Christmas trees and such

Getting ready for Christmas again! Can't believe how quickly this past year has gone. Seems like it just rushed by. Hard to believe that March will be two years since we moved to North Carolina. That just seems impossible to believe. The time has just whizzed by.

We put up our Christmas trees this past Thursday. We usually put them up the first weekend in December, but since Lauren is working most weekends these days, we did it on her day off.

The first one is the living room tree and the smaller one is in our dining room.

Now comes the hard part. Putting presents under them. I haven't done any, zip, zero shopping. Andrew did get one major item for one of the kiddo's but other than that, nothing... Can you say Last minute shopper! Yes that would be me. I just can't seem to get into the spirit of shopping early in the season. I suppose it is because I am not a shopper. I don't like to shop, so I put it off until the last minute. Not only that, but the gift list hasn't been completed yet. Megan has changed her mind a couple of times so far. Today she said to me that she didn't know anything that she wanted! Can you imagine that! Fifteen and she can't think of anything that she really wants! AMAZING!

Well, the weather outside is frightful and you know how I dislike cold weather. I am trying to start training for a 13.1 in the spring, but it isn't going to well. I can't stand to run in the cold, and every time I go to the Y to use the treadmill, I get a headache. I finally decided it was the cleaning supplies they use. The cleaning lady is always there when I go and the smell of the cleaner is so strong. I am very sensitive to those kind of things. It smells like pine-sol and I have never been able to stand pine-sol. The problem is, I go in the mornings while Noah is at school. That is really the only time I can go, so unless they would be willing to change their cleaning schedule or cleaning supplies, I guess I will have to let my membership go...

I want a treadmill for Christmas, but to get a good one, they are expensive and I just can't see spending that kind of money right now. So I suppose I will try to find some place else to get a run or two in each week.

Not much else going on, just the usual day to day living. Right now I am to tired to try to think of something clever to say, so this will be all for now.

One Saturday in November

I just love the colors of fall. The bright reds, yellows, and oranges are so vibrant that you can't help but stop and look at them. There are so many of these beautiful orange/red trees around and I have wanted to pull off the road to photograph them. Today as I was driving home a different route from the library, I passed a school that had several of them across the front. Since it was Saturday, I pulled into the parking lot and stepped into a beautiful afternoon and begin walking around the tree taking various shots with the camera on my iphone.

I chose this one to add to my Daily Eye Candy project. After I got home, I begin to think about the name of this project of mine. Maybe I should change the name to Daily ICandy, considering that all the photos are taken with my iphone while I am out and about on my daily routines. These are definitely not planned shots, but things that catch my attention as I drive past them. They are often spur-of-the-moment shots, or the best-I-can-do-while-driving shots. I know what your thinking, but no, I don't put anyone in harms way while I take the photos.

I named this shot, Daily Eye Candy #13. Not because I have been doing this thirteen days, but because today is the 13th and I don't know how many shots I have done so far. So #13 sounded like a good number to me.

Well., today is the eve, of the eve of the beginning of my forty-fourth year on this planet, and I am not quite sure how I feel about that yet. Not that I have any influence on the matter one way or the other, it is what it is, I can't change that. But my feelings and attitudes are within my control, and at this point, I am not sure where I stand.

This getting older does bother me some, as I am sure it does most people. Aging is a scary prospect for me. I don't want to get to the place in life that I can't do things I want to do. I don't want to be limited by my body, my mind or my health. Getting older almost insures that at some point in the future those things will begin happen. I will reach a place where I will have to deal with those limitations. But thank God, at this point, I am healthy, in control of all of my mental facilities and have no physical limitations. For that I am extremely grateful.

At 44, I feel that I am perched somewhere between my youth and old age. With each passing year I teeter more to the other side. I am old enough to let go of the unimportant things that so often plague us in our early adulthood, but not yet to a place where I am looking back and wishing for the past again. I suppose I could look at this time as the best years of my life.

One thing I do know for sure is that these are the years that if I am ever going to do something, I need to do it now. With this knowledge in hand I am working on that list of "One of these days I'll get around to doing that," things. Losing weight, getting into shape and becoming a runner were on that list and I am currently in the process of doing just that. I have many other things on that list as well, but I will save those for another time.

For now, I am going to sit back and enjoy the rest of this day, because I will never again have the gift of another Saturday as a 43 year old woman. This is the last one and I want to get everything out of it I possibly can, so that when I look back on this day years from now, I will not have regrets. Well, there might just be one regret. I might regret that I didn't get up and drive to Tuttimelon and get that delicious cup of Dulce de leche gelato that I am craving. On the other hand, years from now I suppose whether I did or didn't won't be of much consequence in the whole scope of life.

Daily Eye Candy

I am working on a little project that I have entitled :

Daily Eye Candy

365 Days of Beauty:

Photo's of Everyday Things

Here is a small sampling for you to view.

My Chair

I love this chair. I think I have told the story of the chair before on here but I think it is worth telling again.

When I lived in Little Rock I did quite a bit of thrifting, junking, yard sale-ing...whatever you want to call it. One of my favorite places to "shop" was Mid Towne Antique Mall on the corner of Markham and Rodney Parham. Not necessarily because the prices were "thrifty" but because they always had great stuff. Most of it was more than my budget would allow for "junk" but I loved to go and look.

While out alone, enjoying some "me" time, I stopped in to see what was new. I found this great chair on the back side of the store in a little booth that was hardly big enough for the chair. I instantly fell in love. At the time it only had the seat cushion in it. I sat in it and put my legs over the arms of the chair and knew I had to have this chair. However, the $60 price tag was more than I like to spend on one thrift item. So I reluctantly walked away.

After leaving the store I drove home, which happened to be just down the street. I couldn't get the chair out of my mind. I had the perfect spot to put the chair and I knew that I would spend long hours in the chair reading. When I got home I told Andrew about it and he said, "buy it." How could he be so casual about such a thing I wondered.

I just couldn't be so haphazard about such a purchase. I had to have time to think it over; read: Talk myself out of it, tell myself all the reason why I didn't need to spend that much money on something that I really didn't need.

But instead, I decided to throw caution to the wind. I called the shop and ask if they would take less for the chair. I was told that if the purchase was under $100 they couldn't call the booth owner, but they could give me 10% off the item. So that meant the chair would only be fifty-four dollars. Only six dollars difference, but a world of difference in my book. Well enough that I decided to go right then and get the chair before someone else came along and snatched it away. So I told them to hold the chair I would be right there.

That is how this lovely chair became part of my life. I went to target and bought the two throw pillows. But other than that it looks like it did when I found it. I love the fact that it has had another life, somewhere else before I found it. It has a few scratches and nicks that show wear. It has a past, one that I will never know. I prefer used things to new, because they have a story, they have a past hidden in them. It makes things more interesting and appealing just as it does with people.

When we moved to North Carolina we put the chair in the living room in front of the front windows. I sat in it as often as I could. But at Christmas time we needed the front window area to put up our large Christmas tree, so the chair was moved into the master bedroom. I know it is September but the chair still sits in the bedroom. Actually Andrew has enjoyed the chair more than I have since it was moved. I rarely sit down in the bedroom. Mostly when I do make it upstairs to the bedroom, it is after a very long day and all I want to do is fall into the bed and sleep. When I do have time to sit, I usually do that at my desk or the kitchen table, but rarely in the bedroom. Andrew often goes into the bedroom to watch a game or do a crossword and he can be found sitting in the chair.

But today, being a long, lazy, carefree Saturday. I had nothing pulling at me; very few chores that needed my attention, so I decided to come into the bedroom for some alone time and sit in MY chair. And that is just where I have been most of the afternoon. Enjoying again this wonderful chair that I bought on a whelm without to much deliberation on my part. I am so glad that I did decide to throw caution to the wind and be spontaneous for a change. I think the chair looks great in its new location so I will have to find something to put downstairs in the front window for eleven months out of the year. Anyone know any great thrift stores in North Carolina?

Critics, Critics...everywhere!

To appease the critics...

News from the homefront:
Noah started to school three weeks ago. He is in a half day program and is really enjoying it. Today he starts playing soccer. Their first practice is this afternoon. I am anxious to see how he likes it.

Mom and Dad have been visiting for a few weeks and will be heading back south next week.

Lauren is still working as a photographer with a national portrait studio and is entertaining the company of a young man...I will say no more about that...

Megan is doing school and may be starting piano lessons soon. We tried to get her into school where Noah goes but they were at capacity.

Andrew is finishing up the job in the next few weeks and will be starting another job here. So we will be staying here for at least another year or so. We were glad to hear that. Not that we are just crazy about this area, but we are settled in and enjoying the house and our garden along with Noah in school and Lauren employed... And to be honest, we just weren't ready to pack and move again. So this will give us a little more time of being settled. I am sure by the time the next year passes, we will be ready to move on to a new place. The "little gypsy" is appeased for the time being.

This weekend Andrew and I are going on a trip to the mountains for a late twenty-second wedding anniversary trip. We will leave tomorrow and come back Sunday evening. Saturday morning we are running in the Asheville Citizen-Times 5K. I am excited and looking forward to our first run. We had planned to run one last month, but I got sick and was unable to train like I needed to. So when I saw that Asheville was having this one, I jumped at it. I love Asheville. I remember the fall of about 1986 when I attended University of North Carolina in Asheville. The campus was so beautiful. The air was crisp and cool and the leaves were turning and falling across the campus. I can close my eyes and go back to the spot where I use to sit in the grass between classes enjoy the pleasant weather and the smells of fall. Now twenty-four years later I plan to go back and visit those places that I would frequent. The race is downtown and although I am sure that it has changes a lot in the years, I am sure that I will still be able to recaputre the same feelings that these places evoked in me so many years ago.

Well, not a whole lot more to say right now. I am pressed for time. I need to get packed and start supper so it will be ready when I get home from soccer.

My favorite Banana Nut Loaf

My Favorite Banana Nut Loaf

for recipe see "recipes" in sidebar.

AWOL

Okay, yes, I have officially been AWOL from this blog. I do feel bad for leaving it alone for so long. I could blame it on being busy, but I haven't been any busier than at any other time in my life, in fact, I may be less busy these days than usual.



I suppose I just needed a break from the blog...or maybe because I just didn't have much to write about. Also, I have been taking a creative writing class and I suppose I got my writing yang out of me in the class, and had little left for here.



Whatever the case, I'm BACK...



Well, let's see, were to start??



I started running. Was doing pretty good, signed up for a 5K, but I have been sick the last week and a half and only got one run in during that time. I am on antibiotics and have been left with no energy. But hopefully in a couple of days I can get back out there. Andrew and I started running together three mornings a week. We decided to go for our first 5K on the 14th of this month. Now I am really worried about it since I have been sick and will still be on the antibiotics the day of the race. But we decided to do it anyway, even if we don't reach our PR for the day. I suppose as long as we do it...Like John Bingham says, "The miracle isn't that we finish, the miracle is that we had the courage to start."



Finished my writing class, waiting for the next one to start the middle of the month. Looking forward to it, really enjoyed the first one. Still need to work on the daily discipline of writing. I get side tracked by other things and don't always sit down to write.

The following is a tongue-in-cheek, southern humor piece that was revised from a longer piece I wrote for my blog a couple years ago.

Southern Fried Wisdom

I have a confession to make…I can't fry worth a flip.

I can fry catfish, but I do that in a Fry Daddy, so that doesn't really count. When I fry in a pan the batter just falls right off into the grease and leaves the meat totally naked.

I have studied cookbooks and watched Paula Dean on the Food Network, but I still can’t get it to work for me. I took four years of home-economics in high school and as a true southerner my mom fried all the meat we ever ate, except when it was in a gumbo or in a cornbread dressing. Of course, there were my uncle’s famous summer barbeque's and the occasional crawfish boil on the creek bank. But our everyday, down home meals always included fried meat. Chicken, steak, pork chop, squirrel, rabbit, fish, deer, quail or any other poor critter we could find to batter and deep fry. We southerners as a group, do enjoy our fried food.

When I got older I jumped on the health food bandwagon, and now I am more of a bake, braise, boil, sauté, steam, broil, anything but fried, kind of gal. With that said, there are times when frying is just what the occasion calls for, like say, fried chicken for a church social. At those times I really would rather not have to drive to Popeye's, buy the chicken, come home, hid the box and pretend I have labored long and hard frying chicken all day. I really don’t like all of that deception.

A few nights ago I decided to try my hand at frying once more. I knew that somewhere inside this body had to be a frying gene or two passed down from my southern ancestry. With renewed vigor I thawed and wash the chicken, put it into a large bowl of buttermilk. I prepared my flour by adding Tony's seasoning, ground pepper, salt and a dash of garlic powder. Using the trusty cast iron skillet, just like grandma did, I heated the peanut oil. Each piece of chicken was coated with the flour mixture and dropped into the hot oil. After it browned enough on one side I turned it over and let it brown on the reverse side.

The mood must have been just right, and the stars aligned just so, because to my surprise, the crispy did not fall off of the chicken! It looked pretty enough for a picture.

What does this have to do with anything you ask?

Well, I asked myself that very thing when I sat down to write about it. I suppose it means that sometimes things work out, sometimes they don’t. But even in the mundane, ordinary moments there is an opportunity to learn important truths about living.

Some things in life will come easy and sometimes we will struggle. Through it all we must learn to stay positive, be resilient and willing to try again, and sometimes it’s even okay to eat fried chicken.