The family tree.....

I was reading Martha Stewart's blog the other day and she had posted pictures of tombstones at a graveyard near her home in Bedford, NY. Most of the headstones were dated the 1800's. One was from the 1600's! She named names and speculated as to what their life must've been like, whether their kin was buried next to them or if there was something special mentioned on their headstone. I wonder if the current family members of those buried folk know their ancestors story?

I know some people would find this type of walk-a-bout creepy, but I don't. I spent many hours as a kid walking through old and forgotten mountain-side burial plots looking for past family members. See, my Mom was, and still is a little, into genealogy--searching and tracking our family history. She was the first one who introduced me to tombstone rubbing. That is when you use white paper up against a headstone that is a little too worn for the naked eye to make out. With charcoal or pencil lead you then lightly go over the white paper and voila'! you would have a charcoal relief of what the tombstone originally said. Plus it gave her a 'hard copy' of full names and birth and death dates that she could carry home in hopes of connecting-the-dots with other family members.

She's gone back many, many generations on my Dad's side and quite a few on her side of the family too. Oh, the stories she has told me about some very colorful folks in our family history. Not to mention the family scandal or two that had been swept under the rug for years upon years only to be uncovered by....my Mom. There were quite a few undocumented name changes, one or two illegitimate children, a couple of mistresses, a couple of altered birth certificates, some relatives who just 'disappeared' and some really, really weird cod's (cause of deaths). There are a few other jaw-dropping revelations and stories that I won't share here. Mom would be aghast that I've shared this much already! lol....Maybe I'll write a series of books one day about all the characters that build the base of my family tree. They make for some very interesting stories.

When I was a kid, these cemetery walks used to bore me to tears, but now I'm glad that Mom did all that research. It's pretty cool to look over your life as the pieced together quilt that it is. Every piece is not always pretty and the edges maybe a little (or very) ragged and frayed, but every piece fits together and it makes us, eventually, who we are....

October....

I'm sitting here in my office working. Well, 'working', because I am spending more time staring out the window. There is a longing in my heart today to be outside, not in the office. The leaves right now are just gorgeous. More and more of them are falling today though, as a breeze is blowing. My backyard is a sea of yellow, orange and red--both on the trees and on the ground...

"O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
Tomorrow's wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all....."

~Robert Frost~

The first cut is the deepest....

My daughter has spent the past two days trying out for her schools' basketball team. This was her first time trying out for a sports team, so the whole 'tryout' process was all new and very exciting. The two-hour tryouts Monday and Tuesday were filled with drills, dribbling, shooting and team dynamics. Last night, she found out that she did not make the first cut. Ouch. My girl turned from the computer screen last night after she did not find her name on the list and told us the news. Then the chin quiver started.....

ahhhhh, that first sting of disappointment and rejection as a kid. It's a tough, but necessary hurdle to clear in life. There are sooooo many important life lessons to be learned in this experience for her though. That you gotta try your hardest, no matter the outcome. That it's ok to be disappointed for a little bit. How to be a gracious loser. How to now be a cheerleader for her friends who made the cut. How to create a game-plan to practice for next years' tryout....the list goes on and on and on. As important as the life lessons are though, as a Mommy, it's still hard to watch my baby take that first big hurt.

The Spider House....

I started decorating for Halloween a couple of weeks ago. This is our first round of holidays in this house, so the task is to figure out how your gonna decorate it--with what you have or new stuff. Most of our existing stuff works on this house. I love bringing in the haybales with scarecrows and pumpkins. They will stay up all the way through Thanksgiving. The pumpkins that don't become jack-0-lanterns over the next week, will stay as their companions. The newest addition to this house were the spiders. I bought these 4 five-foot spiders to hang on the outside of the house. We now live in what is known as....the spider house.


The mums have just popped over the past couple of days. I bought them with only buds and no opened flowers. Now they are all in bloom. They were worth the wait. On the inside I have a black candle house surrounded by a ghoulish cemetary with creepy characters milling about. My favorite decoration for Halloween though has to be my merry band of handpainted ghosts. My MIL gave them to me, the first one all painted by her, the other five still bisque that I got to paint. They were one of my first ceramic painting projects. They've been in 3 different houses now, numerous moves and are not as quite as ghostly white as they used to be, but I love, love, love unwrapping them every year.

While I write this I am baking Pumpkin Cookies to sandwich with Maple Cream to give to a friend who is having a birthday tomorrow. Gotta run before they become roasted pumpkin cookies!

Leaves....

Who knew that my early morning drive to the drugstore this morning would have been so beautiful? Thank you God, for that sinus headache so I could enjoy your beauty! lol...

The drive to my house.....

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded
to it, and if
I were a bird I would fly
about the earth
seeking the successive autumns!

~George Eliot

A 'chili' weekend.....

When the weather turns cold I start cooking soup. In an effort to keep things lighter and healthier, I gravitate toward broth-based soups. A couple of days ago, I made homemade chicken vegetable and have been slurping on it for the past few nights. Yum! For this weekend though, I am making my absolute favorite cold weather food--chili. I LOVE chili...the meat, the beans, a little heat....mmmmmm.

But in order to have it to eat for the weekend, I will make it today. I believe that certain foods do get better when their ingredients are allowed to mingle for a day or two. Chili is definitely one of them. The beauty of chili, too, is that as long as you have the basics--tomatoes, spices and some beef/chicken broth, you can add whatever you want and make it truly your own! Extra meat, no meat, black beans instead of kidney beans or no beans at all, add some corn or extra onion. How 'bout some funky chili peppers that you found at the market? Beer? Zucchini? Absolutely!!! Chili is a cooks ultimate free-for-all dish. Then there are the toppings or no topping at all. Mine always comes with a side of homemade cornbread and that's all. This is my base recipe and usually I don't veer too far from it because I don't see how you can improve on perfection! But add to it whatever you like--that's the joy of this recipe!

One Pot Chili

1 Tbls canola/olive oil (whichever is fine)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 lbs ground beef or turkey
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 small can diced green chiles
2 1/2 Tbls chili powder
1 (28oz) can cup up peeled tomatoes, undrained
1 (15oz) can dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
grated cheeses, sliced green onion, sour cream, cilantro, etc for toppings, if desired.

In a large stock pot, heat oil until hot. Add onion and cook over medium heat, stirring, until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add ground turkey or beef and cook til just done. Add garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.

Stir in chiles, chili powder, tomatoes with their liquid, beans, salt and pepper. Heat to boiling, stirring. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes. Eat immediately or if you can, let the chili cool and refrigerate til next day. Reheat slowly, serve and top with cheese, sour cream or whatever you want!

Comfort food & big sweaters....

ahhhhhhhh, Fall. The beginning of the 'nesting' period for me. I love striking the fire, watching the leaves change and then fall. Enjoying the Charlie Brown specials for the 1000th time. The snuggling onto the couch on a cold night in my comfy sweats, soft sweaters and big, fuzzy socks. I also love breaking out my favorite comfort food recipes too...mmmmm.....mac n cheese, chili, soups, casseroles, etc....

For me, someone who has lost an incredible amount of weight (140 lbs!) and now has to constantly police what she eats to keep the weight off, this time of year can pack on the pounds! We move less, we wear bigger clothes and we eat differently (and heavier) than we do in the warmer months. There is a great article in the News & Observer today called "Maximize comfort, Minimize calories" that I found very helpful in making substitutions. It really is not about denying yourself all that good stuff, rather substituting for lighter dishes that will still give you that warm-in-the-belly feeling. There were some great suggestions in the article, like instead of big, heavy creamed up soups, how 'bout Tomato soup with cracked black pepper? For your favorite mac-n-cheese, use low-fat cheese instead of full-strength. Can I just tell you now--don't go 'fat free' on cheese, you might as well chew on a pencil eraser....seriously, just don't go there. On grilled cheese, use 1 slice of cheese instead of 2. For me, this equation would be: use 2 slices instead of my usual 4! = ) See? I cut it in half...that does make a difference!

I love the idea of a baked apple with maple syrup or a bowl of warm, homemade applesauce with cinnamon instead of double crusted apple pie. If you want that pie, make it single crust instead of double crust. Spiced gumdrops and jellybeans are a good little snack instead of leftover Halloween candy. Use chicken broth in mashed potatoes instead of cream and butter. Use maple syrup (natural source) in your sweet potatoes this year instead of all the brown sugar (processed source) and butter. The article also suggests other 'comfort' signals too, like when it's dark at 5 p.m. this winter, light a candle in the kitchen or put some mulling spices on the stove.

Don't set yourself up for unpleasant surprises this spring when you pull our your shorts and tank tops and find none of them fit. It's not about denying yourself or eating all 'rabbit food'... just some simple substitutions can help make these upcoming holidays and cold winter months a little lighter and healthier, yet still with all the comfort you want and need!

A day at the fair....

The NC State Fair is in town this week and Cassie and I went for the day yesterday. It was very cold, overcast and little misty. We went with hopes that the misting would stop and that the nasty, cold weather would keep the crowds away. We were right on both counts. Yay! We drove over to the "Park-n-Ride" lot nearest us and picked up a bus to ride the fair grounds. It costs a few bucks to do this, but I've found over the years that it is wellllll worth not having to drive around endlessly looking for an empty spot and having to walk a couple of miles.

We got there about an hour and a half after the gates opened. The rides were already running and the food booths were already open and selling their goodies. Neither of us ate any breakfast in anticipation of indulging on some horrible-for-you, yet delicious fair food. Cassie wanted to hit the rides first though. She went on Freak Out, the Zipper and the Himalaya and then back to the Zipper. Whatta way to wake up! By this time she was ready for lunch and her first request was a footlong hotdog...the North Carolina red ones....it's a local thing. She picked her hotdog place because it had a weinerdog, or a dachshund, in a bun and she thought it was cute. Lucky for us, they had good footlongs, too.

After lunch went went walking through the exhibition buildings. This is where everything is--from the Sham-wow booth and the other hawkers selling their wares. But we went looking for the cooking contest winners. Our friends, the Fowlers, entered a bunch of stuff for judging this year and we wanted to see if any of them won. The only verified win that we could find was Kellie who won not only blue ribbon for her jarred Apple Conserve, but she also had a huge red ribbon attached too for Best of Show! Woohooo!!! (I now understand that the rest of the family won some ribbons too...awesome!) While we walked around Cassie enjoyed a triple decker ice cream cone of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough that we got from the Shriner's booth.

We went through the livestock building--my favorite part. Cassie hates it because 'it smells'. She such a city girl. BUT--while walking through we found that the NC State Animal Science Department had a cow-milking station set up and Cassie got to milk her very first cow. She was soooooo excited. Once she sat down on the stool and gripped that 'milk dispenser' it took her a couple of tries, but once she got it, she was milking away. She got such a big kick out of that.

Once our tummies settled lunch a little then it was back to more rides and more walking around the game booths. An 'A for effort' to the guy who yelled out to Cassie "Come on over and play and bring your sister!"....lol...good try! We don't play the game booths. I would love to win one of those HUGE stuffed dogs, but not at the cost of all my money! On the way out we did stop by one of the fudge booths and bought a block of hubby's favorite. Of course, Cassie and I both had to try it on the bus ride back to the car. You know---just to make sure it was good and everything.

It was a great day! Another one of those great memory days that she and I will never forget.

Pumpkin' carving....

My daughter sent her first email 'forward' to me the other day. I thought this was adorable and even more so because it came from my favorite little pumpkin....

A woman was asked by a co-worker, "What is it like to be a Christian?" The co-worker replied, "It's like being a pumpkin. God picks you from the patch, brings you in and washes all the dirt off of you. Then He cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate and greed. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see!"

Let your light shine!

Re-visiting Emerald Isle.....

My friend Warren has just returned from his beach vacation with his wife to Emerald Isle, NC. Seeing his pictures posted on Facebook brought back such memories for me. When I was a kid, Emerald Isle is the stretch of beach my family would go to when we went to the coast. EI is a stickey-out part of the gorgeous Carolina coastline. We would load up the station wagon with our pop-up Cox camper in tow with every beach toy we 3 kids could stuff in the car. We always camped on the bay-side of Emerald Isle and would go gigging for flounder and netting for crabs late, late at night. The next day all of our fresh-from-the-water treasures would become part of a delicious seafood boil and fish fry that we would enjoy at our campsite picnic table.

My Dad had quite the creative set-up for our flounder gigging. He had two large tire inner tubes, one to hold a cooler for our catch and the other held our car battery that lit the light needed to light your way thru the water in the middle of the night. Ropes tied around the innertubes were then tied around your waist so they would follow you in the water, but leave both hands free for gigging or netting. The first time I went gigging I accidentally gigged a puffer fish. When I pulled the gig out of the water, that thing was puffed up monstrously and hissing and spitting! It took forever to get him off the gig. He was one MAD fish! I think Dad lost his patience with my scaring off the flounder more than I gigged 'em, so the next night, I was given the crab net instead. The crab netting didn't go much better because crabs kinda creep me out. The first crab I saw that night was running toward me--like he was charging. I got scared, dropped the net and ran toward shore, completely clouding the water so we could see nothing--no crabs or flounders. So much for gigging that night. The next night I was relegated to carrying the light. lol....such great memories. My Dad passed away about 8 years ago and sweet memories like that pop back into my head every once in a while and make me smile. *sigh*

I love how unassuming angels show up and bring wonderful memories back into our minds and swell up a heart. Thank-you, Warren, for doing this for me today. I know he won't mind if I share his gorgeous photo of Emerald Isle at sunset.....

(photo property of Warren Baker)

One foggy morning.....

Since Sal is still under the swine influence, I drove Cassie to school this morning. This is his usual job. We trade off--he drives her to school and I pick her up. After taking 'the morning shift' for a couple of days now I'm thinking of trading drive times! It's been a beautiful drive in....

The mornings this time of year here in NC, usually start very foggy and dewey, especially out here in the country. These past two mornings have been particularly beautiful. Yesterday was foggy with the sun trying it's best to break through. Those streaks coming through the fall leaves was breath taking. This morning it was the complete opposite. Still gorgeous but it was ominous with no sun trying to break through whatsoever. Very gray and very thick and very fall.
(thanks to Emsgarden.com, one of my favorite blogs, for the beautiful pic)

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

~Carl Sandburg~

My little piggy stayed home......

My husband spent most of Friday with a massive headache that we attributed to the seasons' changing. But those headaches were joined by achy joints by the afternoon. By nighttime, he had a 102 degree fever and the chills. First thing Saturday morning he went to the doctor and found out he had the H1N1 virus. Yep, Swine flu.

For the whole weekend, he lived on the couch wearing a lovely medical mask, drinking lots of water and not touching anything if I could help it. I had my Costco-size tub of disinfecting wipes out and ready to wipe down anything he glanced at. Lucky for him, he had lots of hockey and football games on to watch. His fever finally broke yesterday morning and he's feeling much better today, but he still has his mask on even while working in his office. He has a horrid cough and terrible congestion, but says he is feeling muuuuuch better. Cassie and I are both feeling good and the doctor says he is contagious for 24 hours after the fever breaks, so as long as she and I are still feeling ok today and tomorrow, I guess we will escape it for now.

It is a very contagious strain of flu and is spread by human carriers, so even going to Wal-mart to do shopping poses the risk. Even Saturday night at church during the 'turn to your neighbor and say Hi' segment of church, I hesitated when the lady next too me held her hand out to shake mine. Is it wrong that my first thought was "ewwwwww"? I shook her hand anyway....and then made sure I gobbed on the anti-bacterial later when I got in my car. I've heard some churches are doing 'fist-bumps' now instead of the handshake. I'm a little surprised that our pastors have not suggested not shaking hands for right now. All doctors do suggest the way to avoid the flu, this and any version of it, is to wash your hands frequently. How easy of a solution is that??? One we need to be reminded of apparently, so......Wash your hands!!!!!

Well, if we gotta wear 'em, might as well get creative, right?! These masks are awesome!!

Life is short....

I just read a story about a Missouri man who died this past weekend while doing yard work. His wife, who is 6 weeks away from delivering their first child, was sitting inside on an ordinary weekend day. She wondered why, after 45 minutes, he hadn't come inside. Her husband was 33 years old and died of an apparent heart attack. From what I've read of this gentleman, he loved his life fierce. He all out loved his job, his family, his home and his friends.

I read stories like that it makes me once again so thankful that God has given me another day. It may be a cliche' phrase, "You're not guaranteed a tomorrow", but it is so true. I'm sure when that man got up Sunday morning he did not say, "Well, this is the day that I die!". And I know his pregnant wife never thought that that was going to be the day that she would become a widow and a soon-to-be single Mom.

The writer of the blog where I saw this story wrapped up their post with this, that I am re-posting because it was just beautifully written and I could never improve on it.
(thanks, Sean Luce of the Luce Performance Group)

"Love what you do and remember life it too short to let it slip by doing something you don't want to do. If you don't love what you do, then take a step back today and think about what you really want to do in life and set a course to achieve that goal. We all have a gift. That gift is the life you have and the opportunity you have to make a difference in people's life. Whatever you do today, do it with everything you have and love it. And remember, it's always up to YOU, to make it a great day!"

Hallelujah and AMEN!

Ice in my veins....

I love hockey. We have been Carolina Hurricane season ticket holders for many years now, including the Stanley Cup season, which was just an awesome season to say the least. I love the speed of the game, I love the aggressiveness of it and yes, I LOVE the fights. My favorite player on the team is usually the guy who's not afraid to drop his gloves and go at it! They're usually not the highest scorers or the best puck handlers but they are equally important to the success of your team. They are the enforcers and keep the opposing players accountable. My husband, who is a hockey purist, gets on me about liking the fights because 'someone sitting in the penalty box doesn't help the team, you get can scored on when you're a man short'......pfffft.....whatever!!

My first favorite fighter for the 'Canes was Jesse Boulerice. Man was he nasty. He did score a few for us, but he was known for his fists. Jesse would fight at the drop of a hat. You could just skate by Jesse and he'd come after you. Needless to say he spent a lot of time in the penalty box. In the '02-'03 season with the 'Canes, he spent 127 minutes in the penalty box, which for Jesse is actually not alot! I loved him. He was such a brute. We traded Jesse back in 2007. I was bummed to see him go, but we got Doug Weight in exchange and that was a very good thing.

So this summer, the Canes acquired this new guy by the name of Andrew Alberts. He's #41 and he is BIG! He's 6'5", 220lbs and....yep...a tough guy. He can play, too! He's fast, he handles the puck really well and can get it into the net. He's the whole package. He's not a crazy guy, where he's just lookin' for a fight just to be fighting, but he is not afraid of hitting and pounding, for sure. We played Philadelphia the other night and he boarded a Flyer so hard I thought the guy was gonna shatter into a dozen pieces. It took the guy a few seconds to regain his senses so you know he felt that the next morning. Ohhhhhhh, Alberts is just awesome to watch.

Congrats to my 'Canes for getting their first win last night too against Tampa Bay--Woooohooo! It was a shootout win, which I love watching, but don't get my husband started on those either...

Tim Conboy demonstrating last night how NOT to fight successfully...

Goodbye Gourmet

It was announced yesterday that Gourmet magazine is going away after 69 years of printing up delicious recipes and gorgeous pictures of said dishes. Another casualty of the economic downturn. I hope Gourmet.com stays up. It is a very well done website, so kudos to those who produce it.

No matter the subject, I love a magazine that truly cares about what their magazine looks like from cover to cover. Gourmet was always one of those magazines that always looked luscious. Not luscious because it was food related, but luscious because it was just a gorgeously photographed magazine. I am a fan of photography though I don't have the eye to take the stunning photos, I sure do appreciate those who do. I've loved the National Geographic magazine for many years for that very reason. Sunset magazine is one of my currents favs because of it's beauty too. But with all that beauty and careful attention to detail comes a lot of cost and if the advertisers and subscribers aren't there to offset those costs...well, you have to shut down. bummer.

Thank you Gourmet for so many years of deliciousness....

Black sandal woman....

I took on the task today of switching out my closet from spring/summer-wear to fall/winter-wear. The local Goodwill store loves me at these seasonal closet cleanings. I start by going through my cool weather stuff in that plastic tub to make sure I want to keep everything I thought I wanted to keep six months ago. I did pretty good, only 2 sweaters didn't make the cut to go back in the closet. My tank tops, t-shirts and bathing suits all went away for another season. Then it was time to change out my shoes......

Now I'm not Imelda Marcos. I don't have anywhere near 2700 pair. My husband thinks I have an enormous amount of shoes. In reality I have about 20 pair each of summer shoes and fall/winter shoes. Because of limited shoe space in my closet, I do change them out by season just like my clothes. If I had that closet like Big created for Carrie in the Sex and the City movie, I would leave most of my shoes out year round.....


....wasn't that the most awesome closet???!!! Unlike Carrie though, none of my shoes are Manolo Blahniks or Jimmy Choos, for sure. Mine are casual kick-around shoes, whether they are slip-on, flip-flops, sandals, mules, boots or whatever. But I do have a couple of pairs of sandals that make me swoon when I see them. For the longest time I had always wanted a pair of Carlos by Carlos Santana shoes. I don't get this way about shoes usually, but he designs the most gorgeous, sexy, colorful, bold, modern and very feminine shoes. When I finally found a saucy little pair on-line one day on sale (a rarity), I jumped and bought them. They-are-stunning. They are the most beautiful and yes, the most comfortable heels I've ever walked in. The day they arrived I watched tv that afternoon in my cut-off shorts, tank-top and my new Carlos Santana Flora Ankle Wrap 4" heel sandal, black. What a sight. I stared at my shoes more than I watched my tv show. Later that month I added two more Carlos sandals to my collection. Those three pair of shoes have a whole shelf to themselves in my closet. Packing them away today was kinda sad, but at least I know my little babies are wrapped in all their original tissue paper with that little gel pellet packet that they came with and are safe and sound. But I can't wait til I can crack open that box again next spring. *sigh*

Kitty-sicle.....

I love cats and have always owned one since college. Cheetah was my first love. She came from the SPCA in Garner and was solid black with gorgeous green eyes. Then we added Leo and Stevie, a brother and sister team that Sal and I adopted right before we got married from the North Shore Animal League up on Long Island, NY. Priscilla was an adoption from a co-worker who was left with the cat when his engagement broke off....he wasn't crazy about cats, but his fiance' wanted one. And Casper came to us from one of Sals clients who was getting married to a man who was deathly allergic to Casper. Cheetah, Stevie and Priscilla have since passed on which leaves us with Leo and Casper still. The two boys. Leo is the alpha-cat as he has seniority in the house. He is now 19 years old and is puttering around fine, but more like an old man now--slower and not a sleek looking as he did in his younger years. Casper, that gorgeous guy above, is 13 or 14. We're not quite sure how old he was when we took him in, so we guess-timate.

Now that Fall has firmly settled in and I have now added the big, warm, fuzzy blankets and one heated blanket to the bed, these two rarely leave it. Sleeping for me has become a challenge as Leo will only sleep wrapped around my legs or between my feet or partially over one leg and head resting on the other. Getting out of bed in the middle of the night to use the bathroom becomes quite the project as I try not to disturb the sleeping feline prince. Casper only gets on the bed during the day when he can sprawl out wherever he wants all by himself....or sometimes with his sleeping buddy......

Leo & Casper...snuggle buddies