Happy New Year

Today is 1-1-11, and I think thats kind of cool. I hope everyone had a nice celebration to ring in the New Year. Bruce is sick, so ours was very low-key. Bruce wasn't up to going out so the kids and I went out for Thai food. Which is funny if only because Stephen has eaten there at least 3 times now in the past 2 weeks. He loves their Mango curry. And then we took Erica to see the new Harry Potter since she hadn't seen that yet. After that we ran by the grocery store to buy grapes and a Red Velvet cake (for Bruce) and we came home. Hannia showed us a Mexican New Year tradition where at the stroke of midnight you eat 12 grapes (supposedly 1 a second for the first 12 seconds but thats hard) and you make a wish on each one. It was fun coming up with all those wishes in such a hurry. I am used to only wishing for 1 thing at a time, like when you blow out those birthday candles.

And so we are now at the beginning of 2011. I hope its a wonderful year for all of us. I know I said my only resolution was to find more joy, but I thought of another one last night. I want to be a bit more adventurous in the kitchen and am planning to attempt at least 1 new recipe every week. Maybe I will blog about it, the keepers and the "never make that again" ones. I figure that no matter how busy I get, I can sneak in at least 1 a week......right?

Kids and stuff

It has been so nice and nostalgic having all of my kids home under one roof again. We have gotten so scattered and so busy that its a rare occasion. I am loving this. Everybody goes home this weekend, and I will be sad, but I have thoroughly enjoyed these couple of weeks. I wish I could have been off of work more.....but who knows, that may have been too much togetherness. LOL.

Anyway, we are wrapping up the old year and welcoming in a new one. I know I should be making resolutions, and setting goals. But I have barely had time to think about brushing my teeth much less making long and involved intentions. I have a history of not keeping them so much anyways. I always plan to eat healthier, which we do....off and on. Or exercise more....never happens consistently. Or being more organized or this thing or that thing. Not this year. I have neither the time nor the inclination. The only goal I am setting for myself this coming year is to be happier. I am more or less happy already. But I guess I mean taking the time to smell the roses, and appreciate the little things. You know....things like fresh coffee, warm kittens, hot showers....I want to savor those wonderful things, and pay less attention to the inconveniences. I may eat healthier, although my goal demands I make time for savoring chocolate. I may exercise more. But whether I do or not, I still hope to be happy about it.

I hope the New Year brings much happiness to all of you too. There is plenty to go around for everybody!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everybody! We had a wonderful day, lots of presents, and a huge feast. Now we are all waiting on the snow that was promised. It hasn't made it here just yet. Dad and Barb left right after dinner to make the 3 hour drive back to Va. to avoid being snowed in. They have company coming to visit them on Monday.....its been a tense evening waiting to hear that they made it ok, as they were driving right into the snowstorm. But they just called and made it home safely. Whew....what a relief.

I hope you all have had a wonderful holiday. Keep up the party until New Years!

I think its done!!!

The gifts are bought, wrapped, placed under the tree or mailed off to their destinations. Stocking stuffers are ready and waiting (yeah, my kids are adults but Santa still fills their stockings every Christmas!). Enough food for an army has been purchased and is bursting out of the fridge right now just waiting for a big Christmas Eve AND Christmas Day dinner. The goodies are in the process of being made. Stephen made batch #1 of the absolutely necessary chocolate chip cookies. Erica made sausage balls last night, and is making cheese straws tonight. Sometime today I am going to make a new treat called "Besitos de Coco"....or coconut kisses. When we were in Puerto Rico this past spring we had a wonderful little bakery near our condo and we bought these delicious little treats several times (ok, maybe even more than that...) over the course of our week. I found an authentic Puerto Rican recipe for them so hopefully they will turn out and we can enjoy them all over again. We are trying out a recipe for Egg Nog cheesecake for Christmas dessert. Barb is bringing a bunch of stuff too.
Oh my Lord, we are going to have to go on a stringent diet for the new year. Seriously. But the point is that I am done. With everything but the cooking. Whew.....Christmas can begin. Well, it has to wait until I get home from work on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Decorations for the Blog

I LOVE this picture for some reason. It makes me want to pack up and spend Christmas on St. Thomas, or anyplace in the sunny Caribbean. That little tree all lit up at twilight with the ocean as a back drop is just so pretty. Its not my picture. I borrowed it. But it makes me happy all the same.

Cold enough

I was running around this week delivering packages in this semi-rare cold spell we have been having. I had on a light jacket that was hanging open, no hat, or gloves. I had a heavier coat and gloves in the car but had decided they were unnecessary. One woman came to her door wrapped up tightly in half a dozen layers of thick clothing. She took one look at me and said, "Oh my goodness, you MUST be freezing!" I just smiled and said, "I'm fine. I love this weather." And I do. I am so much happier running around in fresh cold air than I am the hot and humid stuff. Granted, this is eastern NC and highs in the mid 30's is what we consider "COLD". For me, its perfect. Much colder than that and I may not love it quite as much. I feel like I can breathe, and I love the fact that I can go outside without sweat. No bugs, no snakes or other creepy crawly things. Now if we could just get a little snow. Not enough to make the roads bad, but enough to make a snowman in the yard.......

A bit much?

I found this on Fail Blog. And my kids thought I go a little over the top....LOL.





Actually this year, I have scaled way back due to lack of time. My work schedule has been insane, and trying to get the kitchen finished too has left us scrambling to get ready for the holidays. It will be fine, I'm sure. My children won't feel lacking if the house isn't stuffed to claustrophobia with my Christmas toys. Maybe next year......haha.