Woke this morning, after finally getting some decent sleep, to the task of baking biscuits and making coffee.
For breakfast, we had cold ham with biscuits, honey I bought in Michigan the last time I was there, and left over cranberries.
Dave remarked that this was his 5th year enjoying my life long, generations long traditions. He loves that salty pig!!
I think he's pretty happy about that!
We bought ourselves that exercise equipment as our gift to each other, but then we also did stocking stuffers.
However, Dave went a little overboard with buying me actual gifts that would not fit in a stocking....so while he got "mens" chapstick (it doesn't have flavor and isn't shiny), lectric shave, and old spice deodorant, a paperback, and a dvd....I got a gorgeous statue of Bastet, some nice smelling soap for my beautiful bath tub time, a cd, a pretty decorated jewelry box, and a scarf. AND, he says there's something else that was shipped on 12/16 but still has not arrived.
This from the man who wants to put a halt to holiday gifting between us. HAH!
After breakfast, I showered, then he showered, then my step son arrived, and off they went for their holiday bonding time. They're doing lunch and a movie.
During my time alone today, I will be baking ginger bread, doing laundry and cleaning up more from last night, and roasting a chicken for supper.
It will go nicely with the left over veggie casserole, and biscuits from this morning.
Also going to try making a batch of Dickensian gin punch! No really!
So, here's to tradition, and here's to remembering. Cheers, and happy holidays!!!
Sunday, December 25, 2011
eve
The windows steamed yesterday with the boiling of the ham. The fragrance lingered well into the night, of smoke and salt.
My Oklahoma family gathered in my home, around my table, for the first Helfrich/Freeman style Christmas eve feast in this house.
My husband said "that went better than I expected it to," I think meaning that his dad, who has mild alzheimer's disease, behaved himself.
Dave has said that his family does not come from a place that understands true tradition. They don't "get it."
To them, it was just dinner.
This is difficult for me. Being away from my family is hard enough. Being surrounded by people who have no clue of the meaning of what I worked so hard to present to them makes it worse.
But certainly, that's not their fault!
It's just a completely different family culture.
After a little while, I soaked my tired bones in a hot bath, where I could hear the Pavarotti playing, and sipped my cognac.
And I cried.
But I could hear my dad's voice in my head, saying "Good girl. You remembered everything. Good."
And that, my dears, is all that really matters.
My Oklahoma family gathered in my home, around my table, for the first Helfrich/Freeman style Christmas eve feast in this house.
My husband said "that went better than I expected it to," I think meaning that his dad, who has mild alzheimer's disease, behaved himself.
Dave has said that his family does not come from a place that understands true tradition. They don't "get it."
To them, it was just dinner.
This is difficult for me. Being away from my family is hard enough. Being surrounded by people who have no clue of the meaning of what I worked so hard to present to them makes it worse.
But certainly, that's not their fault!
It's just a completely different family culture.
After a little while, I soaked my tired bones in a hot bath, where I could hear the Pavarotti playing, and sipped my cognac.
And I cried.
But I could hear my dad's voice in my head, saying "Good girl. You remembered everything. Good."
And that, my dears, is all that really matters.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
contended kitties
Thank you, Aunt Elsa!
oh, and p.s. I am a complete idiot, apparently....the "cooky" press recipe is RIGHT THERE...I have NO freakin idea how I missed it! I literally looked and looked, and I tell you, it was NOT THERE! LOL! what a moron.....I guess I was just too excited, and my mind wasn't working....DUH!!!!
Friday, December 16, 2011
A bit of festive decor....
The mantle(no idea why this one appears so small...click any image for a larger view)
The kitchen nook....
...with the overhead off....
...and the living room nook!
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Thanks, Seeeeester!
(mostly) Trader Joe's swag!!!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Holidays and gardening and muscle aches, oh my!
THE HAM IS HERE! It's a lot earlier than the website indicated, but they probably do that so they look good! LOL...
I'm so glad that I found another source, since the one we'd been using raised their prices through the roof!
Confirmed that we will only be 5 for Christmas eve dinner.....so there will be LOT of left overs! My mother in law had forgotten about my ancient family tradition of the sacred ham, and suggested we all go out to eat.
NO!!
I am cooking the ham in my new kitchen, and that's that! Barring a blizzard, we will go down to Moore and get the parents and have them in for supper. They will just have to put up with watching us sip wine, too (mom is a teetotaler, and dad is not allowed to drink anymore).
The little pressies to my girlies back home are all packaged and addressed, and Dave will drop them at the post office for me tomorrow.
I bought myself a box of "Jingles" cookies yesterday, after speaking to my sister on the phone, and hearing that some stores run out of them, and that's all there is for the season.
I had spotted them on Friday at Walgreens, and thought "wow, I haven't had any of those in years....I'll get some later....." I was going to just wait and get them closer to Christmas, but instead, stopped back for them yesterday.
They go great with coffee!
(I prefer to dunk them in whole milk, but given that I don't/can't drink that stuff anymore, that treat is a thing of the past)
Dave had never heard of them before.
They were a fixture in the house when I was a kid, along with the cookies my mom would make with her cookie press. I hated the little silver sugar ball "ornaments" she put on the tree shaped ones, but I loved the cookies! Even the fruitcake ones!!
So, after a stretch of very wet, then very cold weather, we finally got the rest of the top soil purchased and unloaded yesterday for our flower bed out front.
We had previously brought home 400 pounds, and discovered that what sounded like potentially a lot of dirt only covered about a three foot square area! That's how far down Dave had to dig to get the bed cleared of crappy red dyed mulch, rocks, and plastic sheeting.
This flower bed spans the entire front of the house, you can see it in my profile picture. Getting it dug out was a HUGE amount of work, and filling it in was pretty hard, too!
Anyway, the weather kept us from being able to proceed with getting the rest of the dirt to fill the bed in, and then getting the bulbs into the ground!
SO, yesterday, we had sunshine and 40's, and we went to Lowe's to get the rest of the dirt. In two trips!
Dave loaded 800 pounds more of it into, and out of, the car, and I unloaded all of the dirt from all of the bags (20 bags at 40 pounds each), and spread it in the flower bed with a metal rake.
We are both going to be very sore later. That was a LOT of hard and heavy work....work we would have been better off doing if we were 25 years YOUNGER! But, it's good for us....
...and we will have to do it all again if we want garden beds in the back yard!
Anyway, the tulips and daffodils are planted. Let's hope they get left alone by critters (there really are very few squirrels here, and they are much more interested in the pecan tree in the back yard. Plus, I have never seen ONE bunny).
If the flower faced Goddess of spring is on our side, we will have colorful blooms in front of the house in March!
I have the tulips (yellow touched with red, and purple) on one side, and the daffs all together on the other side, with space in the middle. I plan to seed the middle with native wild flowers in the spring. Indian blanket flower, in particular, but mixed with others as well. Those will fill in the front with color all summer, hopefully. They're native to this land, so they should be able to take the horrible summer weather. If they don't get pulverized by hail or wind, that is.
Anyway, yesterday, we also got a pretty wreath to hang on the part of our front porch railing that faces the street. That's really all of the outdoor decorating we can do, since we don't have any outdoor outlets on this house that was wired in 1927.
I also want to find those removable hooks so we can hang lights in a window or two. I want my house to be more festive, darnit! If we can find those hooks, I can also try to rig up something with lights and garland on the mantle, which has it's own built in (yet ancient) power outlets!
Made burritos last night, and started one of my gift projects for my family back home. They also received their ham, so that all worked out perfectly.
Today, another project for them, and another cooking project.... JAMBALAYA! I usually wait til January to start making that, for some unknown and incalculable reason....but I want it now!!
Plus, laundry, a little cleaning, and finishing the home made kahlua project!
It's been a very productive weekend already, and is sure to end even more so!
Hope you are all doing well and staying healthy. There's a really nasty upper respiratory virus burning it's way through my office. It's symptoms exactly match the flu, but no one has been tested to confirm that it's flu. Since there are viruses that match the symptom profile, it's impossible to know, I guess, unless you bother to be tested.
9 people have had it. All of them but the one who started it, who refused to stay home and brought the virus into the office, have missed a minimum of two days of work.
I am taking every precaution I know of....I have been trying to go to bed early, and get more rest. I have been exercising on our Christmas present to each other, I have been taking daily doses of cod liver oil, extra vitamin C, and immune boosting herbs, and I wash my hands and avoid touching door knobs, handles, and switches. If I DO have to touch something, like the copier, or the fax machine, I use hand sanitizer.
I am the only one in my office who does NOT get the flu shot....and with everyone around me getting sick, I need to be extra vigilant. Hopefully, I will escape their fate! It's been a few years since I was really sick that way....thank the Gods!! I'd like to keep it that way.
oh, and p.s.: good, old fashioned "comet" and elbow grease works on my bathtub! None of the spray cleaners could get it to be really clean...okay....carry on....
I'm so glad that I found another source, since the one we'd been using raised their prices through the roof!
Confirmed that we will only be 5 for Christmas eve dinner.....so there will be LOT of left overs! My mother in law had forgotten about my ancient family tradition of the sacred ham, and suggested we all go out to eat.
NO!!
I am cooking the ham in my new kitchen, and that's that! Barring a blizzard, we will go down to Moore and get the parents and have them in for supper. They will just have to put up with watching us sip wine, too (mom is a teetotaler, and dad is not allowed to drink anymore).
The little pressies to my girlies back home are all packaged and addressed, and Dave will drop them at the post office for me tomorrow.
I bought myself a box of "Jingles" cookies yesterday, after speaking to my sister on the phone, and hearing that some stores run out of them, and that's all there is for the season.
I had spotted them on Friday at Walgreens, and thought "wow, I haven't had any of those in years....I'll get some later....." I was going to just wait and get them closer to Christmas, but instead, stopped back for them yesterday.
They go great with coffee!
(I prefer to dunk them in whole milk, but given that I don't/can't drink that stuff anymore, that treat is a thing of the past)
Dave had never heard of them before.
They were a fixture in the house when I was a kid, along with the cookies my mom would make with her cookie press. I hated the little silver sugar ball "ornaments" she put on the tree shaped ones, but I loved the cookies! Even the fruitcake ones!!
So, after a stretch of very wet, then very cold weather, we finally got the rest of the top soil purchased and unloaded yesterday for our flower bed out front.
We had previously brought home 400 pounds, and discovered that what sounded like potentially a lot of dirt only covered about a three foot square area! That's how far down Dave had to dig to get the bed cleared of crappy red dyed mulch, rocks, and plastic sheeting.
This flower bed spans the entire front of the house, you can see it in my profile picture. Getting it dug out was a HUGE amount of work, and filling it in was pretty hard, too!
Anyway, the weather kept us from being able to proceed with getting the rest of the dirt to fill the bed in, and then getting the bulbs into the ground!
SO, yesterday, we had sunshine and 40's, and we went to Lowe's to get the rest of the dirt. In two trips!
Dave loaded 800 pounds more of it into, and out of, the car, and I unloaded all of the dirt from all of the bags (20 bags at 40 pounds each), and spread it in the flower bed with a metal rake.
We are both going to be very sore later. That was a LOT of hard and heavy work....work we would have been better off doing if we were 25 years YOUNGER! But, it's good for us....
...and we will have to do it all again if we want garden beds in the back yard!
Anyway, the tulips and daffodils are planted. Let's hope they get left alone by critters (there really are very few squirrels here, and they are much more interested in the pecan tree in the back yard. Plus, I have never seen ONE bunny).
If the flower faced Goddess of spring is on our side, we will have colorful blooms in front of the house in March!
I have the tulips (yellow touched with red, and purple) on one side, and the daffs all together on the other side, with space in the middle. I plan to seed the middle with native wild flowers in the spring. Indian blanket flower, in particular, but mixed with others as well. Those will fill in the front with color all summer, hopefully. They're native to this land, so they should be able to take the horrible summer weather. If they don't get pulverized by hail or wind, that is.
Anyway, yesterday, we also got a pretty wreath to hang on the part of our front porch railing that faces the street. That's really all of the outdoor decorating we can do, since we don't have any outdoor outlets on this house that was wired in 1927.
I also want to find those removable hooks so we can hang lights in a window or two. I want my house to be more festive, darnit! If we can find those hooks, I can also try to rig up something with lights and garland on the mantle, which has it's own built in (yet ancient) power outlets!
Made burritos last night, and started one of my gift projects for my family back home. They also received their ham, so that all worked out perfectly.
Today, another project for them, and another cooking project.... JAMBALAYA! I usually wait til January to start making that, for some unknown and incalculable reason....but I want it now!!
Plus, laundry, a little cleaning, and finishing the home made kahlua project!
It's been a very productive weekend already, and is sure to end even more so!
Hope you are all doing well and staying healthy. There's a really nasty upper respiratory virus burning it's way through my office. It's symptoms exactly match the flu, but no one has been tested to confirm that it's flu. Since there are viruses that match the symptom profile, it's impossible to know, I guess, unless you bother to be tested.
9 people have had it. All of them but the one who started it, who refused to stay home and brought the virus into the office, have missed a minimum of two days of work.
I am taking every precaution I know of....I have been trying to go to bed early, and get more rest. I have been exercising on our Christmas present to each other, I have been taking daily doses of cod liver oil, extra vitamin C, and immune boosting herbs, and I wash my hands and avoid touching door knobs, handles, and switches. If I DO have to touch something, like the copier, or the fax machine, I use hand sanitizer.
I am the only one in my office who does NOT get the flu shot....and with everyone around me getting sick, I need to be extra vigilant. Hopefully, I will escape their fate! It's been a few years since I was really sick that way....thank the Gods!! I'd like to keep it that way.
oh, and p.s.: good, old fashioned "comet" and elbow grease works on my bathtub! None of the spray cleaners could get it to be really clean...okay....carry on....
Monday, December 5, 2011
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Holiday gifts
Dave tried to talk me out of exchanging gifts for the holidays this year-and into the future. I don't like that idea. I know that a lot of couples do that over time....but I'm not ready to let go of that part of the holidays.
I love gift buying and receiving!!
SO we reached a compromise. We agreed to buy one "big" thing for us both, and still do stocking stuffers.
What we agreed on was to get our first piece of exercise equipment for the home gym we hope to gradually build in our shed.
The shed used to be a garage, but a previous owner took away the usual garage door, and put in a horribly made wall with the old front door in the middle of it.
Anyway, the garage/shed still needs a lot of work to get it ready to be usable, but we, on the other hand, desperately need to exercise NOW, having lost our access to equipment when we moved out of our apartment.
Dave has access to an underground tunnel, where he walks regularly, and to a 4 story building with stairs, which he climbs.
I, on the other hand, have no access to exercise right now. I took a hiatus from dance to deal with my stress-related issues, and in the interim, the space we were using was closed for renovation, and the troupe disbanded.
I can't take daily walks at work unless the temp is between 55 degrees, and 95 degrees (my own guideline *wink). If conditions are right, and it's not too hot or too cold, or raining, or ice-covered, then I can take a 15 minute walk on my break, or around the neighborhood on weekends.
We didn't have our bikes with us until October this year, after storing them in the winter of 2010 at my inlaws. We only got to take 2 bike rides this year. It's now too cold, but in the spring we will get out and ride at every opportunity.
Meantime, though, we need an alternative!
We shopped around for ideas, and settled on a combo unit that's a bike and an eliptical, and it was really, really affordable--especially if we applied for the credit card for the store where we got it! It should be paid off in 2 payments. We probably would have spent about the same amount on one another if we'd bought each other individual gifts.
We, mostly Dave, assembled it yesterday, and it's going to help tremendously. Dave is under doctors' orders to exercise more (and he walks and climbs stairs daily at work already), and lose weight, and he is REALLY EXCITED to have this machine freely accessible!!
In other news, after searching around on the internet, I found what I HOPE is a good source for our sacred Virginia Hams for Christmas eve dinner.
Our previous source raised their prices beyond belief (with shipping, to about $100 per ham!). $40 more than a year ago....with no warning or explanation.
Wow.
So, the hams I found are about the regular price we are used to seeing, and are ordered, and will be shipped out in a couple of weeks, if I read the website correctly. Fingers crossed that they will be good!!
I love gift buying and receiving!!
SO we reached a compromise. We agreed to buy one "big" thing for us both, and still do stocking stuffers.
What we agreed on was to get our first piece of exercise equipment for the home gym we hope to gradually build in our shed.
The shed used to be a garage, but a previous owner took away the usual garage door, and put in a horribly made wall with the old front door in the middle of it.
Anyway, the garage/shed still needs a lot of work to get it ready to be usable, but we, on the other hand, desperately need to exercise NOW, having lost our access to equipment when we moved out of our apartment.
Dave has access to an underground tunnel, where he walks regularly, and to a 4 story building with stairs, which he climbs.
I, on the other hand, have no access to exercise right now. I took a hiatus from dance to deal with my stress-related issues, and in the interim, the space we were using was closed for renovation, and the troupe disbanded.
I can't take daily walks at work unless the temp is between 55 degrees, and 95 degrees (my own guideline *wink). If conditions are right, and it's not too hot or too cold, or raining, or ice-covered, then I can take a 15 minute walk on my break, or around the neighborhood on weekends.
We didn't have our bikes with us until October this year, after storing them in the winter of 2010 at my inlaws. We only got to take 2 bike rides this year. It's now too cold, but in the spring we will get out and ride at every opportunity.
Meantime, though, we need an alternative!
We shopped around for ideas, and settled on a combo unit that's a bike and an eliptical, and it was really, really affordable--especially if we applied for the credit card for the store where we got it! It should be paid off in 2 payments. We probably would have spent about the same amount on one another if we'd bought each other individual gifts.
We, mostly Dave, assembled it yesterday, and it's going to help tremendously. Dave is under doctors' orders to exercise more (and he walks and climbs stairs daily at work already), and lose weight, and he is REALLY EXCITED to have this machine freely accessible!!
In other news, after searching around on the internet, I found what I HOPE is a good source for our sacred Virginia Hams for Christmas eve dinner.
Our previous source raised their prices beyond belief (with shipping, to about $100 per ham!). $40 more than a year ago....with no warning or explanation.
Wow.
So, the hams I found are about the regular price we are used to seeing, and are ordered, and will be shipped out in a couple of weeks, if I read the website correctly. Fingers crossed that they will be good!!
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