Day #312 - Friendly Dinners

We just got home from dinner at Steve and Jen's house. There were 11 adults there and 2 kids and everyone brought appetizers (except me, I was assigned bread) and Steve made Lentil Soup. It was really yummy. Jen made pumpkin humus and Steve made baguettes w/goat cheese and cranberries. There were a few others, but those were the best.

Everyone at the party was really quite nice and it was a very relaxing evening visiting with friends and meeting a few new people.

To report back on a few outstanding items...Thanksgiving was nice. We went to Trav's Mom's house and dinner was delicious as expected. My yams looked weird, but they tasted ok. I made raspberry Jello w/raspberries inside and, in an effort to be creative for the Holidays, I used some jello molds that I have had since Trav and I got married, but have never used in 17 years. I dumped them out on a plate and then cut up bananas around the plate for garnish with some dollops of whip cream...it was pretty funny, but people seemed to like it ok.

My Brother-in-law, Mike, brought the mashed potatoes. They were DELICIOUS, but wait 'til you hear what is in them...Potatoes (duh), lots of butter, cream cheese, cream, half 'n half and then butter on the top and baked to create a crust. No gravy needed for those bad boys. They were very good - Mike called them "Once a year potatoes" - I agree.

The pies were also delightful, but Jolene really does make a lovely pumpkin pie. It is not like the normal pumpkin pies - it is more of a cream pie, but super thick and I love the flavor. I don't really know how to explain it, but it is really the only pumpkin pie I like to eat.

I did manage to forget my camera AND my phone...how lame is that? So, no photos this year.

Trav DID end up going to the gym on Thanksgiving Day - I was surprised to hear they were open for 1/2 a day. So all is right with the world.

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend.

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: "If I were invited to a dinner party with my characters, I wouldn't show up." Dr. Seuss

Day #311 - The Shut Down

I LOVE how everything just shuts down at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Today at work I got SOOO much done that has been waiting for attention for weeks - too long. There are still things to get to, but it was good to get some of it off my desk. I had 3 voice mails all day and answered maybe 3 other calls. My boss was out of the office this week and he only sent 3 reminders about getting our time cards done - 2 were sent after we had all done it already and Sheryle was out, so I had my quiet little corner all to myself. Now I get a 5 day weekend to enjoy - yes, I have Monday off as well.

This weekend is going to be busy - Thanksgiving day is slotted for tomorrow at Trav's Mom's house. I am bringing the yams and jello salad. Friday we have dinner at Jen's, Saturday we meet at my Mom's to do the Calendar and Saturday night we are meeting with our neighbors, which leaves Sunday to put up the tree. Don't ask when I will find time to clean the house...maybe Friday morning. So much to do and lots of memories to create.

The only bad thing about shut down is the literal shut down of stores when you realize you are missing that one thing you need to make the dish you are assigned to bring. And when is the library going to be open again? I need to get in there this weekend - will it be closed on Friday as well...or Saturday? Will Trav be able to go to the gym tomorrow? Doubts. I guess all will be revealed soon enough.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: "I can no other answer make, but, thanks, and thanks."  ~William Shakespeare

Day #310 - Picture Pile

I printed off a bunch of photos this weekend in preparation of building my two pages of the Family Calendar this year. I was thinking the other day how great photos are and how accessible they are to most everyone these days. I suppose there are plenty of people that do not have easy access to a camera, but in my small corner of the world everyone has a camera or a camera phone.

I can access all kinds of photos at the click of a button on the web - If I don't know who Bradley Cooper is, I can simply look him up and figure it out. If I want ideas on how to wear my hair, I just look it up online. If I want to see what kind of dog my husband wants to get 'some day', I go to Google and check it out. It is pretty amazing and pictures really are worth a thousand words.

I was reading about Katrina (the storm in New Orleans) the other day and I thought about how many people lost their pictures in that storm. The family down the street lost theirs in a fire. A dear friend of mine lost all her photo albums in a storage unit that was repossessed during a really difficult time in her life - all the pictures she had of her kids as babies are just gone. I sometimes think the one thing I would grab in a fire is one of my photo albums...which one? It is unbelievable that I have a whole shelf dedicated to photo albums.

One of the books is JUST the pages from our Family Calendar that we do each year and is really the most updated book I have of my entire family. That would not be the book I would grab though because I have 6 back ups between my parents and my siblings that could be reproduced...I hope they keep them like I do. I think I would grab the green book - that is the start of my life with Travis and I would want to keep those memories the most.

I am just grateful I have the option to take photos anytime I want - maybe I will be able to find a few good ones to share with my family in this picture pile:

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: " A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed" Ansel Adams

Day #309 - Puppy Love

I am tardy on my blogging this week. We had a busy weekend.

Thursday night I got to go see the new Twilight movie. Travis got tickets from his friend for a work thing. We were in row 2, but it was free and it was fun to see it so soon. After the movie we met my friend Debi for dinner since she was in town this week.

Today we decided it was time for a Costco shopping spree...I am in need of some basic cleaning supplies...and since we hadn't met Amy's new puppy, Bingo, I was able to convince Trav to take me up to her house yesterday. I even begged him to turn around after we left the house and drove a few blocks so I could get the camera and take some photos just for you.

He is a puppy alright!! He about bit my thumb off in all the excitement. We get to baby sit him while Amy goes to Florida in January to run her Marathon. It should be interesting and I already foresee some puppy set downs by Grumpy Old Man Bart who might not appreciate the little spaz biting his ears and jumping all over him. I am a little concerned about the cat, but am pretty sure she can hold her own.

Amy's house is looking a bit like a farm or a petting zoo...She seems rather attached to her chickens and they seem to be pretty domesticated which is cool. Beauty came right over to Amy to say Hello when the door opened and Amy picked her up and cooed to her and told her how lovely she was and how much she appreciates the eggs Beauty layed today. It was really sweet.

The Bunny ran by as well and little spaz Bingo started to give chase. Luckily he stopped, but he was very interested. Amy worries for Bingo's nature and the safety of the Bunnies, but all you can do is train them the best you can and see what happens I guess.

After Amy's house I suggested we just drive by Keri's house...'c'mon, it is on the way to Costco and really just down the street, I promise we won't stay, just let me get a picture of her house'...so we did. I hate pop ins and that is what we did to them, but they didn't seem to mind too terribly bad. Here is a photo of her rental house and the back yard. They still seem to REALLY love it still.

We also had Matt and Kim over last night and they stayed throughout the day today. I made a Turkey Breast, mashed potatoes, veggies and the BEST savory bread pudding Travis pulled out of my Ladies Home Journal. It is a definite keeper - delicious as a special occasion dish, since it is rich and a bit fattening for normal everyday food. Plus it took years to put it together...at least it felt like years.

I had a great weekend, but I am so tired. I keep thinking how great it is to only have 3 days of work to do before we get a loooong weekend and then it is time for the Christmas tree...my how time flys.

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: "I hate turkeys. If you stand in the meat section at the grocery store long enough, you start to get mad at turkeys. There's turkey ham, turkey bologna, turkey pastrami. Some one needs to tell the turkey, 'man, just be yourself.' " Mitch Hedberg

Day #308 - See Ya Days...

So I decided to stop recording "Days of Our Lives" this last week...I just wasn't watching it and when I did watch it I felt like I was wasting my time. I would record the whole week and then just watch Friday's episode to catch up on the goings on of Salem. I was finally at the point that none of the story lines were intriguing enough to stick around and all the couples were in the relationships they should be in and for the most part they all seemed fairly happy, so I decided to let it go into the sunset.

BUT...now I have started to record Oprah's Life Lessons instead. I just finished watching my first one. It was a good one to start with - all about becoming what you believe. I haven't done visualization for a long time and I like how she shares stories from her past TV shows. I truly get the sense that Oprah is learning right along with her guests. I wish they were only 30 minutes per day instead of a full hour. All of what she said was great, but an hour per day seems like a really long time. I am sure I will learn a lot.

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: "What God intended for you goes far beyond anything you can imagine.” Oprah Winfrey

Day #307 - Lady Bountiful

I started this blog as a way to express my gratitude for everyday things. I just started listening to a new book on tape called "the Last Light". I think it is about the end of the world as we know it. So far the electricity has gone out, but also anything electronic or static operated at all so the cars stopped running, no cell phones, no credit card machines, no radios and planes dropped out of the sky when the engines quit.

The people in the book had just landed on the runway at the airport and exited the plane when it happened. They were 16 miles from their house...I was driving to work today and thought about being 40 miles from home if the worst were to happen. It would take me a few days to hoof it from 90th S. to my house in Summit Park.

Books like this one help remind me just how many blessings float around me every day without a bunch of fanfare. I want to acknowledge them now, so it does not take the loss of those blessings to remind me they are there for me. My life is full of miracles and love - I am truly blessed.

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: "Like a child, I ask for everything. God is Bountiful and Beautiful; He never comes up empty" Sir Guru Granth Sahib

Day #306 - 5 Words

My neighbor friend and I were discussing a book on tape I lent her ("Loving What Is") the other night when they came for a visit. She is going through this self discovery phase and has never read a 'self help' type book before....WHAT? Is that even possible? I have to admit this book would not be the one I normally would start with for a self help beginner - it is sort of mind bending. I can't tell if she is more appalled or enthralled by the ideas in the book...but she has been really funny to talk to about it and has been making people at work listen to it as well.

We got to talking about various aspects of the book and Trav joined us and listened for a while and then laughed a bit and said, "Kathy, you are just too cute." She objected lightly to the comment and we suggested he come up with a more interesting adjective. Travis tired of the game immediately, but Kathy challenged us to come up with 5 adjectives to describe ourselves to each other.

I am surprised how hard this was for me. Kathy whipped hers right out: Interesting, Creative, Entertaining, Memorable, Determined...to the last I said, "you mean 'stubborn' right?" wink...she is pretty stubborn. The whole point was to make ourselves feel good with ONLY praise/positive words...The only one I came up with for myself quickly was "Kind" - I told Kathy she took all the good words and then I redirected the conversation.

I would be interested to know what 5 positive adjectives you would use to describe yourself? Here are mine: Kind, Observant, Inquisitive, All Knowing (JK), Funny and right now SUPER tired.

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: "I'm Sorry, if you were right, I'd agree with you." Robin Williams