Saturday, November 28, 2009

Black Friday

While we fervently avoid the malls at all costs, even on non-black Friday days, the brother does enjoy hitting some of the wonderful smaller, more personal shops around town. We even had the SIL in tow yesterday which was a joy. Here Jim is modeling a new style of headwear.

We found a few new shops which I hadn't spied before. Yes, we treated ourselves to some wonderful cupcakes, the gingerbread being the best. (No pics. I'm afraid they didn't last very long.)

Then we came home and made turkey sandwiches, almost as good as a full turkey dinner in this house! And then the brother got a hankering for more cooking.

We made Pots de Creme. (Will insert photo later.)

And then, as if that weren't enough, we made banana pudding. YUM! (Again, no pics, as we all scarfed it down pretty quickly.)

Before going to bed, we all had a small scoop of cranberry sorbet to clean the pallet. But of course, dawling.

Having so much fun with my family. Hope you are too.

xo
ro

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Too Much Fun

I have some 'splainin' to do.

Me, the cuz (Jacq) and the cuz2 (Mad).

All I can say is we have a very nice friend who treated my nieces and I to a very special evening.

Now I'm ready for bed. Another big day tomorrow in the kitchen with my brother!

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

xo
ro

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Visions of Turkeys

Working like a fiend to get everything set for the family to arrive from the North.

Starting to look a lot like Thanksgiving, wouldn't you say? Getting ready to pick up the turkey.

Gobble gobble.

xo
ro

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Home's Gentle Reminders

I woke up this morning with a full-fledged head cold. Not feeling the greatest but thankful that my body waited until I got home before it hit.

I've been running around unpacking and straightening up the house. I went into the guest room for something and found mom's gorgeous Christmas cacti in full bloom! What beauty to behold. I have never had Christmas cactus ever re-bloom!

She had these for a couple of years and I moved them upstairs where I would hopefully tend to them. Guess I did.

But, this has to be the best ever. I now put cinnamon in my coffee each morning. Amy's mom, Polly, said it's good for the cholesterol. I'm game. What a delight finding this sign first thing this morning.

I am forever surrounded by so much Love.

xo ro

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Catching Up is Hard to Do

As much as I hate to admit it, this was actually taken before I left for Virginia. Ooooof. Ya don't even want to know what it looks like now. In fact, there was a slight avalanche just moments ago. And there it all sits, on the floor.

I am going to begin catching up with all my blogger friends. Seems like so much time has passed since I visited. I can't wait to see what you all have been up to.

The kid and I are going to celebrate our birthdays today--let the season begin! We were so busy on Friday the 13th (woooooo), we didn't do a thang. I did, however, have my brother make me a chocolate malt after mom's celebration on Saturday. Just like when we were kids. He makes the best. Period. It was but one of those many special moments I will share with you. That is, once I transfer ALL of my photos over to this computer. Oy.

And since I was still in VA for the kid's (16th!!!!), we decided to postpone both.

Will share photos later.

xo
ro

Update:

Now, this kind of catching up is a breeze!

The hub took the kid and I to a nice restaurant in town, Sunset Grill, that we had visited for the teenager's birthday this summer. Mmmmm. The first thing we noticed was this sign posted on the door. I LOVE it! You may have heard this summer that TN passed a new law that allows you to carry guns into bars and restaurants. It used to be against the law to consume alcohol while carrying a hand gun. Well, not any more. Just a tad scary don't ya think? I'll leave it at that because you know I am quite opinionated on the subject of gun laws in the states. Grrrrrrrrr. (I did reassure the maitre d' that we had most definitely left our guns with the parking attendant. lol)

This was my martini of the night--peach.

Of course, as usual, I ordered the shrimp and grits. The okra was a bonus. Momma is watching.

The hub had duck (the kid, his usual of fish and chips).

I ordered the pots de creme and we finished it lickety split. Oh so good.

Not that we needed it because we also had a cake waiting at home.

Glutton. I know.

Another oh-so-good moment.

You may have noticed the pretty quilt piece under the cake stand? I found a whole zip-lock bag full of gorgeous quilt pieces at a thrift store my brother, cousin and I visited on my last day at home.

Five bucks.

The scissors were in the case at checkout. One dollar a piece. They reminded me of mom's old ones when we were little. Even Jim loved them.

Okey dokey. Over and out for the day.

Friday, November 20, 2009

There's No Place Like Home

I don't think I need to click my red glittery heels together, because I'm already there. Sigh. Yes, that's Bella in the middle of all my muck. Toto? Nope, she's not as loyal as ol' Toto.

She's keeping her distance, still, as we speak. Brat. She's given me a couple of forced kisses. Only because I demanded them.

I left my Hampton Inn this morning and made my way over to the teenager's place. Do I have to tell you I was draggin'? Probably not. But I will anyway. I was really draggin'.

He suggested one of his haunts, the Sunspot. I think it was a tad early for him also. Like mother, like son.

The chips and salsa verde weren't really all that appetizing. I was more up for a breakfast menu, but the teenager isn't much of a breakfast-kinda-person. Oh well.

I enjoyed the wonderful photos on the wall.

And, I suppose, we were seated at the Haiku table. That was a lot of fun, but it was too early for my brain to be in gear. Duh. I think I could have come up with something. Daig. I was, however, able to follow these instructions. Quite easily, thank you very much. And he was too. Aw. I love yous are always good. Any time of day.

These all brought a smile to my face.

And this one is for Aim.

We were barely able to choke but a couple of bites down. I think I've been ill, in one form or another, since I left home over a week ago. Lordy me. Details on that later. Joy. Betchya can't wait for that! But this morning, I woke up with the teenager's sore throat and a raspy voice like Doris Day. He had left Maryland with it last Sunday. I have been in search of my Airborne medicinal stuff since last night once I felt it coming on. I just now chugged down a shot of the stuff. Let's hope that does the trick. Anyhow, he was off to class and I was on the road again.

I took the liberty of making some pit stops. Whatever caught my eye, I was exiting off the highway in search of whatever. Smelling the roses, so to speak.

My first surprise was this lake I stumbled upon in Kingston (I think). I was actually looking for an antique shop that advertised on a billboard that I never found. This was a much better find, for sure.

Absolutely beautiful.

As I was pulling away, I saw all of these geese and ducks. Of course, I had to pull over, find my muffin the hotel had given me for the road trip, and share with these cuties. They enjoyed it more than I ever would have.

My next stop was a cute little town, Harriman. It took all I had to find that information after the fact, let me tell you. lol I was actually looking for Rugby, which is an old Victorian city. Yep, in Tennessee. We went there when we first moved to TN with the boys, and I wanted to revisit it.

I never found it. I enjoyed Harriman tho. And a lady I met in a shop.

Funny how your wings take you places and you meet the most wonderful people and hear stories about their lives. I've always been fascinated with that. Even as a young child and we would take these road trips south to visit our relatives in Georgia and Texas, the people we would meet. So different yet so similar. Such wonderful memories of my childhood.

Today was one of those such meetings. I went into a little shop, the only one in town mind you. I walked around and gathered little goodies for stocking stuffers at Christmas and began a little pile on the counter by the register. There were not baskets around, so I just started a pile. There were two other ladies who had entered after me and they were more into the "social southern" way of shopping than I will ever be--that being talking to the shop owner as if they had known her since childhood. So, I continued to look around until it seemed they were almost all checked out. I approached the register and noticed that the owner was writing down the little tin toy I had picked up and had stacked on the corner of the countertop. Eeeeek. I gently spoke up and said "I'm sorry, but I was going to purchase that." Oy, I got a glare from the "purchaser" that would have curled your toes! It kind of startled me. I, personally, would have been embarrassed and said "OH, I am sorry, is THAT your stack of stuff???" Well she didn't. The shop keeper was sweet and offered to look for another one--sigh, another sign of Southern hospitality which takes sooooooooo LONG. lol. But she was sweet. While she was looking, I looked at the lady (dressed in her nurses' whie) and tried to break the ice. I said "I have carpal tunnel and can't hold things in my hands too long without them going to sleep and there were no baskets." Again, the glare. Well, I tell you what, I was through with that. Perhaps I'm not a true Southerner. and take offense to that sort of behavior. More like it, she isn't. For sure. Well hush my puppies. Shame on her. I am going into way too much detail here on the nasty woman. The real story was with the shop keeper. After the nasty woman left, we got to talking. I told her that there was no reason for that woman to be so rude. We just began talking like we do down here in the south. I had purchased some sweet plaques with wonderful mother sayings and I told her how I had just lost mom. She said she had just lost her father a couple of weeks before. But then she said she had lost her son about a month ago. OMG. I could hardly keep from welling up. How hard it must be to lose a child. He was a police officer, younger than me, was not supposed to be on duty that night and had been called in. He was killed in an automobile accident. Devastating. She told me to look at his photo, which she hung on the front door, on my way out. We all must remember, there is always someone out there who is hurting more than us.

Anyhoo, sniffle, the rest of my way home was quick and pretty easy. I think I ate my way home. I won't even put in writing what all I ate. I suppose I thought it was my last hurrah. And then tonight, the hub, kid and I enjoyed a delightful dinner together. I feel like the blueberry girl in Willie Wonka. I am about to burst.

As much as I miss all of my family and friends up north, it sure is good to be home. I cannot wait to crawl into bed with the hub so we can serenade each other to sleep with our snoring. Aw. Bliss.

xo ro

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