Twinkle Lights.....

Thanksgiving was awesome. Mom, bro', husband and daughter gathered around a table full of food. It was all wonderful. It was also a big reminder of how blessed we all are. Truly a day of t-h-a-n-k-s.

The drive home from church Saturday night went from chatting about the service to 'hey, let's stop and get a Christmas tree!' as we drove past the local home improvement store. We had no plans to do the Christmas decorating this weekend, but boy how plans change! This is our first Christmas in this house and my husband really wanted to do a real Christmas tree versus the artificial we've done for years now. We have a vaulted ceiling in the main living area, so a large tree was necessary. We lugged our big 9 1/2 foot tree into the house and got it placed into the tree stand. It took us several attempts to get it visually straight up and down because the tree trunk was not perfectly straight. I decided to bring the artificial tree out as well and set it up in the foyer, so for the first time I have two trees decorated in the house. It was ALOT of work and required a quick trip to the drug store to buy a couple of extra strands of lights. We had to use every last ornament we own to cover two of them, but the trees really do look awesome. This house is quite a bit smaller than others we've lived in so the lights from the trees illuminate every corner. We glow, but what a gorgeous glow.

Giving Thanks.....

Thanksgiving
Pilgrims
move among us.
Silent, their gray lips mouth
prayers for the bountiful fields of
autumn. Feathered
Indians stand
tall in quiet corners
invoking harvest home in a
strange tongue. This is
our Thanksgiving.
Gathered together, we
are visited by the grace of
old guests.
~Myra Cohn Livingston~


Give thanks to God, whose mighty hand
Deals blessings good and great.
~Charles Frederick White~

Iron Chef Morgan....

Ok....I would sooooo get my butt handed to me on that show, but I can dream! I do want to congratulate Chef Jose Garces, who was crowned the new Iron Chef for Iron Chef America last night. I was rooting for him from day one. I had a chance to chat with him this morning and I asked him if the chefs really have no idea what the secret ingredient is on Iron Chef America or not. His comment was "I will neither comfirm nor deny that information!" HA! I just never bought into it that the chefs walked out there completely in the dark. With his Latino upbringing and cooking background, Chef Garces is certainly filling a void on that shows' panel of Iron Chefs. His first battle on Iron Chef America will be January 17th.

"What happened to my weekend?" is what I was asking myself last night. Cooking, that's what. I wish I could say I hated every minute of it, but I don't! I have a bear of a week coming up with not only trying to do prep and cook my own families Thanksgiving meal, but food for a bunch of clients too. I have had to print out a calendar so I can plan out my cooking schedule for the rest of the year. The little squares for this week are so full, I can barely read everything. I pre-cook almost everything for Thanksgiving, so that the only thing I have to do on Thursday is pop everything in the oven to cook or re-heat and grill the turkey. Today my grid shows me that I will cook and mash my sweet potatoes, cook the sausage and veggies for the stuffing and mixing it with the cornbread and biscuits I baked yesterday. This will all be done at the same time I am baking 8 loaves of bread for other clients. Wow....whatta week! I'm ready!!!!

The Fans Come Out At Night.....

Cassie and I went to the midnight showing of New Moon last night...well, actually this morning. The theater showed the first movie, "Twilight", right before the New Moon premiere, so we went to see it, too. Lucky for us we did because the lines for the midnight screening started at 9pm! We only sat through about an hour of Twilight before we walked across the hall to the 1 of 10 theatres that was showing New Moon. At 10pm, our theatre was half-full. By 11:30, it was packed to the gills. Funny how it was almost all Mom's--my age women and the rest were some high school/college girls.

Now I'm a fan of the books first. Stephanie Meyer crafted a wonderfully written saga in Twilight. So I give her mucho credit for even penning these fantastic books and certainly solidifying a financial future for herself and allll of her family still to come! But New Moon, the movie, was great. I had reservations about this second movie because part of the charm of the first movie to me, was the fact that it was a low budget film and kinda art-house looking. The promos for New Moon, with a substantially larger budget, looked all glammed up and very polished and I didn't know if I would have liked it so slick. But I was pleasantly surprised. I like the main characters, Edward, Bella and Jacob and their families. I enjoy the Cullen family and look forward to seeing their characters back in the fore-front in the future. New Moon introduces us to the 'wolfpack' and they were fun, dangerous and not hard on the eyes. Their transformation from man to wolf was very cool and the couple of fights they had in the movie were awesome....and very loud. I got the biggest kick out of the gasps and giggles and "whoots!" that escaped the audience at key points in the movie. The first time Edward shows up on the screen, the time when Jacob rips his shirt off to aid Bella, when Edward takes his shirt off and at that last thing Edward says at the end of the movie--nope not gonna spoil it for you. Women...we are soooo predictable. The movie did get a standing O when it was over, so I wasn't the only one who liked it. I'm going again tomorrow with a girlfriend and her daughter to see it again. Yep, gotta go again.

Walking out into the parking lot at 2:20 in the morning with literally a thousand other Twilight fans, you would never know it was 2:20 AM...it looked like it could've been 2:20 on a Saturday afternoon! Oh yeah....by the time New Moon was over, the theatre had already put up the poster for the 3rd movie in the saga, Eclipse, which comes out next summer. Woohooo!!!!

Before you, Bella, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were
stars--points of light and reason...And then you shot across my sky
like a meteor. Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty.

~Edward~

HOT!

I don't have a big, red HOT sign that flashes on like Krispy Kreme when my ovens are cranking out goodies, but I could have today. The ovens are working overtime this week filling orders for clients who are entertaining at work and at home for Thanksgiving. I filled two orders yesterday of bread and started two big orders today of bread and desserts that will take the rest of tomorrow to finish. Add to that my weekly catering gig for 200 and I am busy, busy, busy. I took another order today for a Christmas party next month that needs 250 cookies. Yay!

I had been searching on-line for bakers boxes, but in small quantities. I don't need 1000, more like 200. I finally found what I wanted, ordered them and they arrived last week. I love how my food looks all wrapped up, boxed and finished in pretty ribbons with my company sticker on the outside. It's all very Martha Stewart-y--so gorgeous. I have always been proud of my food, but even more so when it's all wrapped and finished properly.

Tomorrow I have a re-stocking errand to run, decorate todays food and start prepping for Sundays breakfast. I love this. I love this. I love this.

Getting out of the boat.....

My best girlfriend in San Diego is opening her new business in the next couple of weeks. Kim has taught natural childbirth classes for years now and has acted as a doula for many, many families. Along the way, she became licensed as a massage therapist specializing in pregnancy massages. She has always dreamed of owning her own business and her clientele has certainly grown over the years. Soooooo...over the past few weeks, she handed in her notice to her corporate job, found a little location/shop to rent at the Village Shoppes at the Bernardo Winery, which is a gorgeous location and one of my favorite places to shop. She's painting and decorating her store right now, will be stocking it in the next few days and will open up Pregnatique in December. Pregnatique will feature all things for women who are expecting and beyond--health products, clothing, books, holistic items and of course, Kim's wonderful massages for Mom and about-to-be-born baby. What an amazing idea and store! She will have her on-line store open soon after the new year, so she will soon be world-wide. Her business plan already includes franchising on down the road. Words cannot even begin to describe how proud I am of her. She is seizing the day and her dream. I love the phrase "You can't walk on water til you step out of the boat".....she's getting out of the boat. yay! You go, girl!!!!!

Four Corners.....

Joel Burke is a business friend of mine. He is not only a great programmer at KYGO radio in Denver, Colorado, but he also a great motivational speaker. He recently released his book "Inspire! Inspiration for Life and Life at Work". On his blog recently he wrote about the Four Corners of a Balanced Life. I thought it was just perfect and I want to share....

FOUR CORNERS OF A BALANCED LIFE
By Joel Burke

Doesn’t it seem the older we get, the more complicated life gets? When we are younger, we bought the fairytale that if we only get the new house, the new job and the new car, that our lives will be better. We would be walking down easy street and the struggles from our youth would be a distant memory. Well, go figure! We bought into that fairytale and now want to know about the return policy!

The fairytale can’t be returned, but we can take some corrective steps in putting more balance back in our lives no matter how complicated.

Commitment
This is by far the most important. Without a commitment and relationship with GOD, We will always have a void. We will all constantly be on a search mission for the next big thing to fill that hole. It will for a short time, but the new car smell will wear off and what will be left is emptier than a gas tank. Instead, we should be on a rescue mission that only GOD can provide. Moviemaker, Woody Allen, who is an atheist has said, “I can’t really come up with a good argument to choose life over death, except that I’m too scared…The trains all go to the same place. They all go to the dump.”

Contentment
All of us who have a competitive spirit and are constantly trying to be our best, contentment can easily be forgotten about and in some ways we can easily think that it is a weakness. We all must take time to enjoy and cherish those moments of contentment. My wife and I were driving out of Estes Park, Colorado on a Sunday morning after a snowfall. It was a picture that only God could have painted. I soaked up every second of it. I have to admit that 10 years ago, I probably wouldn’t even given it a second glance.

Concessions
Don’t fight every battle! We all must decide which ones that are worth fighting for and which ones don’t really matter. This doesn’t mean compromising what you believe. It’s about being more cooperative along the way on the non-essentials in life. That can sure lower the stress level and cause us to smile more.

Confessions
Forgive yourself and be the first to say, “I’m sorry” to others! When we make a mistake, ask God and others for forgiveness. This will keep us from living a life of guilt over the past and carrying around a mountain of regret through life. That’s a heavy load that sure will cause all of us to collapse.

The complexity of the simplicity! We all have made our lives more complicated and complex than are necessary. However, it truly is very simple. When we all put and give some attention to all four corners, we will be able to stay the course and stay strong even when trouble strikes!

The Flying Scarecrow....

The remnants of Hurricane Ida have been sitting on top of us for 3 1/2 days and we are drenched! Just yesterday, we had 5" of rain and add to that the bucketloads that fell the 2 days before that, I think we've had our share. Flights in and out of our airport have been delayed because of the blustery winds. There are some areas that are severely flooded--like, chest-high water! We haven't had any flooding here at our house, but you certainly will sink if you step onto our lawn. Very, very mushy! I see that this weekend we will start drying out as Ida continues to move northward.

Several times yesterday I had to chase down the big scarecrow that is part of my front yard decorations for Fall. I call him Efram. Efram was getting blown around all over the yard but I'll be honest, after the 5th time of chasing him down, I stopped. Clearly, Efram had his own agenda. No matter how many times I rescued him and placed him back with his other scarecrow buddy (Jr.) at the haybales, Efram would be gone again within five minutes. I mean, who am I to keep him from his windy day adventures? I went to check on him this morning and found him face down in my gardenia bushes off on the side of the house. Apparently, Jr. decided to join in the fun because he was laying on his back with one of the smaller pumpkins by his side and the pot of mums flipped over. Wow, whatta party those two had yesterday! They still had that cheery smile on their faces when I put them back in their place, so they musta had fun!

(pictured: Efram and Jr.--my party animals)

Scrabbled...

My daughter trotted downstairs last night and wanted to know if I wanted to play Scrabble. SCRABBLE!? She knows my weakness. I love board games and Scrabble is my favorite. Her enthusiasm faded fast though the first time I was able to use my 'Z' tile--a 10 pointer--on a triple word score spot. That 4 letter word, zone, got me 39 points and one pouty girl. She ended up beating me though because I had a 'Q' left over at the end of the game with a couple of other letters and had 15 pts subtracted from my total. Maybe tonight, she and I can play Life, another one of our favorites.

the evil Q...

Lessons Learned....

It was a gorgeous fall weekend, with the temperatures yesterday getting a little unseasonably warm. On Friday, I got the last of my daffodil bulbs planted. I have 600 now in the ground. I'm curious as to how many of those will actually come up next Spring. I will be sure to post a pic of the first little yellow faces that pop up! Also on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, three rare days in a row, I had my sportscar out on the road. Since the Fall temperatures are a little chilly to troll around convertible-like, I put the rag top on and went cruisin'. Hitting these tight, twisty country roads with all the fall colors a-blazin' is just that much more gorgeous (and fun!) when I can do it in my little roadster.

So at church Saturday night, our pastor continued his series on the 10 Commandments. We're up to #6 "Thou Shall Not Kill". Well, I know I've never taken a life and I'm going to assume that no one in our congregation has either.....well....I'm not quite sure about that guy who sits a couple rows behind us.....lol....just kidding. Instead of the sermon that would apply to no one, he twisted it to make it apply to us ALL. It was all about murdering people with our words. Character assassination. Talking unkindly about others. Well, HELLO!? Who is not guilty of that? Over the past couple of years, I've gotten a lot better at 'taming the tongue', as the bible says. I'm very, very careful about what I say to and about people. Before I speak, the thought rolls through my mind--"are you tearing down or building up?". If I stumble, I am quick to apologize and ask for forgiveness.
B-U-T....there is one person in my life who is my downfall. All I have to do is hear his name and I usually blurt out *jerk* or some other horribly, colorful descriptive word or phrase. I get off a phone call with him and I just grit my teeth and do my best Yosemite Sam imitation: razzin'-frackin'-rickin'-rackin'. This man exhibits some very unpleasant personality traits. He's mean and condescending, judgmental.....oh the list goes one and on and he brings out the worst in me!

Well, God certainly was talkin' to me through that sermon, because this guys face and name was rolling through my head and heart the whole time. I know that I cannot change him and the way he is, but what I can change is the way I react to him. You see, people who are hurting, hurt others. If there was ever someone who deserves compassion, it is he. If there ever was someone who could use a prayer to soften his heart, it is he. If there was ever someone who could use a soft, kind thought thought about them, it is he. Ok, God. Message received, loud and clear. Since Saturday night, when he has come to mind, I have surrounded his face and name with pleasant thoughts and words. So far, so good.

"Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.
Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it."

~Psalm 34: 13-14

Red Leaf....

....this little guy is holding on for dear life as all his buddies have all but fallen to the ground. I don't think this years' Fall was as brilliant and colorful as ones in the past, but it was lovely, none the less. There are stretches of twisty country road back here that have been my favorite routes to travel lately only because of the tunnel of colors I could fly through. Beautiful.

Later today, I will plant the rest of my daffodil and tulip bulbs as I already prep for next spring. Since this is a new house, the planting and landscaping is pretty much a blank-slate right now. The builders landscaper was very kind to plant a few daylilies around the property instead of his usual foundation plantings. I've added numerous ones to them, thanks to Broadwells Nursery out in Angier, which has the bestbestbest selection for next to nothin' prices. But I gotta get these bulbs in. I love daffodils and have already planted about 300 bulbs with another 300 to go in the dirt. Told ya! I love my front and back yards to be a sea of those little yellow cups in the Spring. I don't plant them formally, just scatter them about. I don't normally plant tulips because my squirrels end up eating all the bulbs before they get to bloom the first time. Maybe in this new location the squirrels won't have such high-end appetites? Probably not, but we'll see.

I'm also kicking off a Mina project through my church today and am counting on my neighbors to help me. This is all about taking your blessings and gifts, multiplying them and releasing them back into the community to help others. THAT is what loving one another is all about, right? I am taking orders for my holiday breads that I will 'sell' for $10 with all the money going to Interact of Wake County, one of my favorite charities. Cassie will be my runner today and deliver little fliers out to all their mailboxes. I hope I get orders for more than I can handle! I'll keep you up to date on how it goes. In the meantime, have a great weekend!

My nutcracker suite.....

While running errands yesterday I stopped by Homegoods, which is one of my favorite little home furnishing stores. It's a little bit of a trek for me to get to it so I don't go often, but when I do, I spend a good hour or two just meandering amongst all the goodies....

Well imagine my delight yesterday when I walked in and it was wall-to-wall Christmas stuff... just everything! I must of looked like a guy walking into Home Depot on a Saturday--all big-eyed and fantasizing about all the possibilities. Santas, dishes and sparkly stuff as far as my eye could see. Then, I saw it. My weakness. Christmas Nutcrackers. My Nutcracker collection right now stands around 52 and here was a whole display, top to bottom just filled and not a one do I have. There had to have been 250 of them--big and small, traditional and not-so, cheap and expensive--all standing at attention staring at me. I think I truly went wobbly in the knees a little bit! lol....

I only bought one nutcracker and only because he was already clearanced down to six bucks. He was the last one left and I think he needed a home. Ok, that's my justification. He's a pilgrim nutcracker holding a pumpkin. I don't have one like him because all of my guys are Christmas related. But, how is it that Thanksgiving stuff is already on clearance? I guess I missed the window for shopping for that holiday, which I'm sure was back in August. Anyway--I welcome him to my collection.

But I know before the Christmas season is over, I will visit them again and probably won't be so strong. Maybe Santa needs to pay that store a little visit!!!! ahem...

The day after.....

Halloween yesterday was just a blast. I had front loaded all my prep for a catering job this morning to Friday so I had all day yesterday clear. Cassie and I started carving pumpkins around 10am. We did five total--one huge one with a headless horseman, 2 medium ones with a ghost face and alien and then two small ones with old-school jack-o-lantern faces. Cassie wanted to do more but she quickly realized how much work really goes into cutting, gutting and carving each one. The biggest one, the headless horseman took almost a full 2 hours to do start to finish, but it looked awesome. They alll looked great.

Our subdivision had a costume parade and cookout in the late afternoon. It was great fun to see all the smaller kids all dressed up. Parents spend a lot of money of kids costumes these days. They certainly weren't wearing dollar store costumes, that's for sure. While we were there at the cookout they handed out awards for the best carved pumpkin and best decorated house. Our house won the Best Decorated, which thrilled me to pieces! We got this cute little painted house on a stake to put in our front yard. They even put spiders on it---which is what our house is decorated with (see earlier blog). I wanted my headless horseman pumpkin to be in the pumpkin competition, but they did the judging the night before and I don't carve til the day-of to avoid premature shriveling before Halloween night.

So Halloween has come and gone and now it is November 1st. It's raining today, so the decorations will stay up one or two more days so they can dry out. Then the house makes it transformation into the Harvest and Thanksgiving theme. Time to go find my turkeys.....