I'm going to start this post stating that I am in fact a very safe driver. When I get behind the wheel I do my best to follow the traffic laws and not get sucked into road rage. I make every attempt not to use the cell phone and drive at the same time. I use my turn signals and come to a complete stop at stop signs, even when there is no one around to notice. Most of the time I have 1-3 passengers under the age of 7 so I make sure everyone is safely buckled in and I stay within the speed limit (plus or minus a few miles) at all times. I really do try my best to drive safely even if the cars around me are driven by morons and idiots. Please note that I am not allowed to call the aforementioned drivers dumbasses due to the ever constant vigilance of the "bad word" police. Thanks kids.
Now that I have written my disclaimer I can now skip ahead to the events of last Saturday morning around 10:30 or so.
It was a beautifully cold morning, temperature around -10 but the sun was shining and the sky was blue giving a false sense of warmth. The loving husband had to go to Brookings for his Hapkido class so he took off in the Malibu and headed north with the understanding we would meet up later in the day. I had decided I really didn't want to do my cardio kickbox class but I did need a quick workout before doing Tae Kwan Do tutoring later in the morning. I have a 2 hour time limit in the nursery so my plan was to drop the kids off around 10:30, do some sort of workout, do the Tae Kwan Do, shower, and be done by 12:30 so I could get the kids and meet up with the husband around 1 for lunch somewhere.
Well all was going according to plan as I was heading over to the Wellness Center to start my day. The traffic was light and I was actually running ahead of the schedule I had set. As I was approaching the last traffic light before my turn, I noticed the light was green with the green turn arrow. I have to make a left turn so I started to slow down and move into the turn lane. Normally this isn't a huge deal but on that morning I stepped on the brake and could not slow the van. I tried doing the pump the brake thing and resisted the urge to step and hold the pedal but it was soon obvious that the road underneath me was nothing but ice. Because I was already in the turn lane I decided to try and make the turn rather than risking a possible head on collision with the traffic on the other side of the intersection. I also did not want to try and change back into the other lane and risk taking out another vehicle behind me. I was hoping that once I got out of the turn lane the rest of the intersection would be ice free and I could control of the van. No such luck. I was able to avoid oncoming traffic but instead of the snowbank I wanted I jumped the curb and slammed into the traffic signal box instead. The van hit with a crunch and the kids got a little unexpected surprise in the form of a quick stop but the airbag did not deploy and of course everyone was in carseats so other than a few scared tears no one was injured. I turned off the van and called 911.
It seemed like forever before a squad car arrived to take the report. I quickly discovered that once turned off the van would not restart so I was getting ready to exit the rapidly cooling vehicle ( did I mention it was -10 out) and take the kids to the warm building. After the nice officer showed up he allowed me to leave the scene and drop the kids off at the nursery and return to do the paperwork. Don't worry, I had the kids take hats and mittens when we left the house so everyone was warm in their block walk to the door of the Wellness Center. When I returned he had everything written up and was able to give me the information both good and bad.
The good news was that everyone was safe and no one was hurt and the accident did not take out the traffic light or cause any traffic headaches or other accidents. The bad news was I could not find that stupid insurance card so I got a citation for not having my current proof in the car. The very nice officer also informed me that I was getting a citation for driving too fast for the conditions. I knew better than to argue. I will say in my defense that I was going under the posted speed limit at the time of the accident and it was the ice that was at fault not me but I guess I should have started to slow down a lot sooner than I did. I also had to have my van towed away from the scene since it was not drivable. As the tow driver was pulling it onto his flatbed there was a large pink spot of "blood" in the snow. He said it was antifreeze..not good.
After the officer left I went inside and proceeded to call my insurance company and report the accident. The person on the phone was very helpful and friendly to me and told me that someone would get hold of me on Monday to discuss my claim. All I had left to do was wait until the loving husband called me back so we could map out the rest of the day.
We spent the rest of the weekend with one small vehicle for 5 people. I will say that a Chevy Malibu can seat 5 but I won't say comfortably. Jim and Matthew occupy the front seats and I sit in the back between Carolyn and Andrew. No, this is not punishment by husband, the back seat is too small to fit 3 car seats. I now know what a sardine feels like,
The loving husband was scheduled to leave early Monday for a 3 day trip to Ohio so I had use of his car. The insurance company called later that morning to discuss the details of my accident and process my claim. One again the person on the phone was really kind and helpful. She contacted the body shop I had the van towed to and I was able to speak to someone there about the possible timeline of getting it fixed so I could decide when to get a rental vehicle. She also gave me the name of the person handling the claim who would be contacting me about the auto repair stuff. Later that day I got a call from him giving me an update on everything needed to be done.....it wasn't pretty.
The hood needed to be replaced, the undercarriage was damaged, the headlight needed to be replaced, the front bumper needed to be replaced, the radiator needed to be fixed, another part close to the radiator was damaged too and the frame suffered damage as well. I was cringing on the other end of the phone as he was talking. All told the estimate was $5911.87. Yikes!!!! Thankfully I had full coverage and the damage was fixable. I really did not want to hear the words "totaled out" in the conversation. Of course it was going to take a few weeks to get everything fixed and I was given the date of January 29 as the end date. The nice thing is I don't owe the $500 deductible until after the van is repaired so at least I have a few weeks to come up with the money. I also get a rental vehicle for 30 days as part of my coverage so I was able to get a very nice Chevy Impala to drive for the next few weeks. The loving husband has not decided whether or not to demote me to Malibu only status and keep the Impala but at least I have something more comfortable to sit in when we go out as a family. Actually, it might be easier for him to use the Impala since hauling kids can get a car interior very dirty very fast and I really don't want to pay a cleaning fee when I return it.
I don't know if there is a silver lining in all this dark cloud of a mess but there are many small things to be thankful for. I am thankful that this was a slow speed crash so no one was injured. I'm also thankful I hit a traffic signal box and not another vehicle. I'm thankful that if I do get a repair bill for the signal box it is covered by my insurance. I'm thankful that I don't have to worry about getting sued for damages, pain, and suffering by some irate driver. I'm thankful I didn't knock out the traffic light at that intersection. I'm thankful I didn't cause any other accidents. I'm thankful that I crashed in front of my destination so the kids didn't have to walk too far in that subzero cold. I'm thankful I have a very good auto insurance company (Thanks Progressive*) and I'm really really thankful my husband still loves me.
*no compensation given for my using the company name in this post
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Vikings photos
NY Giants buses warming up for the looong trip back to the airport.
Pam and I before the game.
Me standing on the Viking at midfield.
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"The Purple One" watching the game.
Late in the 3rd quarter..notice the quarterback change. #7 on field and #4 in the hat on the sidelines.
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Coach Childress on the move.
The defensive players going over their next set of plays
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Poor Eli Manning....he's been stopped again.
Sometime during the first half. Viking offense plans next play during a time out.
Coin toss--MN won.
Viking Ship right before the team runs out on the field.
NY Giants warming up.
Field goal unit practicing before the game.
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I think this is Chester Taylor and Adrian Peterson but I'm not quite sure.
My view of the field.
100
Wow, 100 posts, I can't believe it. I just want to take a moment and thank all of you who have faithfully logged on and read my words. It means the world to me. I hope you keep reading...2010 looks to be a real exciting year.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Go Vikings!!!
Writers note....due to PC problems the photos that were supposed to accompany this post are not available. Hopefully they will appear in a later post.
It's Monday and wow what a weekend I had. As most of you know I received a ticket to the Minnesota vs New York game as a Christmas gift from the loving husband. The game was yesterday but since I have family and friends in Minnesota I decided to make a weekend out of it and leave on Saturday morning instead of Sunday morning.
Weather wise, the good news was there was no snow forecast....the bad news was the Arctic chill was supposed to settle in and temps were supposed to be downright cold. I made sure I took along the snow boots and snow pants to put in the back of the van along with my warm gloves...just in case I had car trouble.
Saturday morning found me packed and loaded and ready to go by 9:30 or so. My plan for the day was to make Mankato, MN by noon and spend a few hours with my grandma who I haven't seen in a few years. She just moved to a new residence and I wanted to visit and take her out to lunch. I made great time driving there and only got a little turned around trying to find the new place. It was great to see Grandma and we had a great time eating at KFC and catching up on what was going on. I'm happy to say I loved the retirement community she moved into as the place is absolutely beautiful.
My next stop was Rochester, MN. I have two friends, Jackie and Jen, who live out there. Yes, they are the ones I write about when I talk of the girlfriends weekends I like to do each year. While this wasn't exactly a true girlfriends weekend, it was a me alone weekend so I had to at least stop by and say hi. The highlight of this stop was meeting Tessa, Jen's new daughter. I so love cute babies ( especially if I can hug them and give them back). I managed to drag Jen away from Mom duties and we headed over to Caribou Coffee to meet Jackie for an hour or so of girl talk. It felt so good to kick back and laugh and share stories.
My final destination for the night was Northfield, MN. My college friend Pam lives there and I would be staying the night and traveling up to the game with her the next day. I will say I was pretty proud of myself on the driving end of things. I usually get lost or take wrong turns but I only managed a few small goofs but for the most part I managed to drive on unfamiliar roads in the dark by myself and not get hopelessly completely lost.
Hanging with Pam is always fun and Saturday night was no exception. I won't go in to too many details of what all we did but let's just say there was lots and lots of laughter. We also discovered that wine coolers don't taste well after 14years. Long story short....Jan 1, 1996 I took a bottle on MSU campus as a joke (it's a dry campus) and we saved it thinking it would get drunk the next year and I guess that didn't quite happen. Like all good people who have to get up nice and early the next morning we stayed up waaay too late talking.
The next (same) morning came bright and early for me at around 7. Pam needed to leave by 8 to get up to the Metrodome in time for work. For those who don't know, Pam works for the Vikings, as a radio dispatcher during the games. Game time was noon but doors opened at 10 and Pam had to be there at 9 so that left me with an hour to kill when we got there. I enjoyed the drive up to Minneapolis since I wasn't doing the actual driving and it was a very beautiful morning. Freeking cold, but beautiful.
The nice thing about having a friend work at the Metrodome on game day is close parking. Right across the street and no huge parking fee close. After arriving at our destination I said my good-bys to Pam and headed off to find a warm place to stand. It was supposed to be fan appreciation day and there were events scheduled to take place outdoors before the game started. Now that seemed like a lot of fun last week when it was just really snowy out but it was 10 below zero without the wind chill so outdoor anything did not seen like fun. Remember the snow boots and snow pants I took along?? I decided against wearing them since I would be indoors most of the day so they were still in my van. I was OK about not wearing the pants but my toes were really missing those snow boots. I did find two tents set up for the enjoyment of the fans. The first tent was the VIP tent..this tent had a great jazz band, full bar, possibly food, beautiful purple tablecloths...security personnel looking for a VIP pass...yeah, you get where I'm going with this. I then walked over to what I dubbed the loser's tent. It was the same size as the other one but there was no band, no refreshments, the tables were set up but not decorated, the TV's (to watch the pre-game show) weren't turned on but they did have a blower keeping it above zero in there. This is where I decided to hang out. I did get a great view of the media people entering the dome though.
Finally 10:00 came and I was able to get inside where the real action was. It took a few minutes to find my seat but I was very pleased with where I was sitting. I was in the lower section of the dome but I was at the top part closest to the exit. My view of the field was the 40 yrd line and the Vikings bench. I was able to wander around and get something overpriced to eat and then take photos of the two teams warming up and chat with other early fans. The time went by surprisingly fast.
About 10 minutes before kickoff I began to wonder if the game was a sellout because there were still quite a few empty seats. About 5 minutes before kickoff, almost all of them were filled. Right as they were getting ready to do the team introduction, every idiot not in his or her seat all decided that they needed to find a place to stand...RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!!!. Ok, not quite in front of me since there were people in seats in front of me but since I was an end seat near an exit I got quite a bit of traffic and at least one of my photos was ruined by someone blocking my shot at he last moment. I still managed to get a few of the team going on the field though.
Here is where I now confess that I am spoiled by watching TV. I'm used to seeing things up close and personal. It took a bit of time to get used to watching the action as it happened from a distance. I could still watch it on the screens but that's not as much fun. Thankfully, I do know that the yellow and blue lines you see on TV are just special effects and not painted on the field. What made watching the game live so special was the excitement of the fans. There is something unique about hearing the noise 60,000 people make. The other great part was being able to yell and scream and jump up and down with unbridled enthusiasm and not have to worry about waking up a sleeping child or getting "the look" from the husband. Yes, screaming at the top of the lungs was totally encouraged. And there was a lot to scream about. The first drive resulted in a touchdown and it just kept getting better from there. I now know the words to the Viking fight song since it is played after every score and at the end of the game 44 points had been scored. I was in football heaven. For as much grousing I did over "The Purple One" defecting to the team I was very much impressed with his playing ability and considered it a real treat to have seen him play live. As for the other Super Bowl quarterback, Eli manning??? Well, sadly, he did not put in a very good performance and I was a little disappointed. I was hoping to at least see him do a few cool things but if it means a Vikings win then sorry Eli.
Halftime was fun to watch. They had various contests on the field and several lucky people walked away with great prizes. Since it was fan appreciation day random sections were selected to receive free items. This was where I was wishing for a seat up in the nosebleed section since the upper levels seemed to benefit more than those of us in good view land. The one prize I wanted was the Target gift cards and chance to win a $1500 Target shopping spree but alas that went to the lucky lady in Nosebleedland. I tried to call the loving husband and my dad but it was really hard to hear with all the crowd noise so I kept things really short.
The second half started off much like the first..mainly more scoring. When the score hit 44 there was much speculation as to how much more playing time certain players would see. I already had my suspicions when I did not recognise the player who caught the last touchdown pass. Shortly before the end of the 3rd quarter I noticed the number 7 had appeared on the field instead of the number 4 which meant Travaris Jackson, the back-up QB was now in charge. After that the Giants scored their only points of the game. I also started to notice other unfamiliar numbers on the field. At that point the tone of the game changed. It was much more quiet and reserved and I spent more time sitting vs. standing but I was able to take photos of the teams. The fans started to leave at the end of the 3rd and by the end of the game most had started out in attempt to beat traffic.
After the game was over I managed to make my way over to where Pam was located. I got to go up into the booth she works in and meet her co-workers. I also got to walk past the visiting team locker room but of course was not permitted to take pictures and no, Eli and Co didn't appear. I did get a neat shot of the stuff being loaded onto the equipment truck. We made our way onto the field where I was able to take more pictures and have mine taken on the 50 yrd line. Really cool if you ask me.
When it was time to go, we were able to walk into the private lot the players get to park their cars in. Not much action there and no photos but still neat. I also got to get a few shots of the Giants buses waiting for the team and again when they were getting the police escort to the airport. I know, dorky but it's not like I'm ever gonna get to do that again.
The ride up to the game was fun and the day beautiful but the ride back home from the game was the total opposite. Unfortunately, Pam's car developed some sort of problem, possibly a loose hose so the car kept overheating. Ironically, the cold weather probably helped keep things from getting too damaged but the having to stop every few miles and add antifreeze and wait 10-15 minutes for the engine to cool down was not fun. Temps were dipping into the double digits below zero and once again I was wishing for those snow boots. The worst stop was on the side of the road between Apple Valley and Northfield...BRRRRRRRRR. Thankfully we finally managed to get our thoroughly frozen selves back to Pam's place.
It was late but I knew I needed to get home so I packed up and off I went. My van wasn't too happy about sitting outside undriven overnight but thankfully warmed up quite nicely so unlike my ride back from Minneapolis I had a warm comfy trip back to my house. It was still long and due to the car problems I was leaving about 3 hours later than my original plan so I didn't get home until after midnight. Dog tired I walked in the door, dropped my stuff on the floor and headed downstairs to greet the loving husband. Unfortunately, I found out both he and Carolyn had picked up the stomach bug and were not feeling that well. Oh well, back to reality.
I'm hoping I figure out what is wrong with my PC so I can download my photos and post them. Hopefully soon. I've got some great shots I want to share with you.
It's Monday and wow what a weekend I had. As most of you know I received a ticket to the Minnesota vs New York game as a Christmas gift from the loving husband. The game was yesterday but since I have family and friends in Minnesota I decided to make a weekend out of it and leave on Saturday morning instead of Sunday morning.
Weather wise, the good news was there was no snow forecast....the bad news was the Arctic chill was supposed to settle in and temps were supposed to be downright cold. I made sure I took along the snow boots and snow pants to put in the back of the van along with my warm gloves...just in case I had car trouble.
Saturday morning found me packed and loaded and ready to go by 9:30 or so. My plan for the day was to make Mankato, MN by noon and spend a few hours with my grandma who I haven't seen in a few years. She just moved to a new residence and I wanted to visit and take her out to lunch. I made great time driving there and only got a little turned around trying to find the new place. It was great to see Grandma and we had a great time eating at KFC and catching up on what was going on. I'm happy to say I loved the retirement community she moved into as the place is absolutely beautiful.
My next stop was Rochester, MN. I have two friends, Jackie and Jen, who live out there. Yes, they are the ones I write about when I talk of the girlfriends weekends I like to do each year. While this wasn't exactly a true girlfriends weekend, it was a me alone weekend so I had to at least stop by and say hi. The highlight of this stop was meeting Tessa, Jen's new daughter. I so love cute babies ( especially if I can hug them and give them back). I managed to drag Jen away from Mom duties and we headed over to Caribou Coffee to meet Jackie for an hour or so of girl talk. It felt so good to kick back and laugh and share stories.
My final destination for the night was Northfield, MN. My college friend Pam lives there and I would be staying the night and traveling up to the game with her the next day. I will say I was pretty proud of myself on the driving end of things. I usually get lost or take wrong turns but I only managed a few small goofs but for the most part I managed to drive on unfamiliar roads in the dark by myself and not get hopelessly completely lost.
Hanging with Pam is always fun and Saturday night was no exception. I won't go in to too many details of what all we did but let's just say there was lots and lots of laughter. We also discovered that wine coolers don't taste well after 14years. Long story short....Jan 1, 1996 I took a bottle on MSU campus as a joke (it's a dry campus) and we saved it thinking it would get drunk the next year and I guess that didn't quite happen. Like all good people who have to get up nice and early the next morning we stayed up waaay too late talking.
The next (same) morning came bright and early for me at around 7. Pam needed to leave by 8 to get up to the Metrodome in time for work. For those who don't know, Pam works for the Vikings, as a radio dispatcher during the games. Game time was noon but doors opened at 10 and Pam had to be there at 9 so that left me with an hour to kill when we got there. I enjoyed the drive up to Minneapolis since I wasn't doing the actual driving and it was a very beautiful morning. Freeking cold, but beautiful.
The nice thing about having a friend work at the Metrodome on game day is close parking. Right across the street and no huge parking fee close. After arriving at our destination I said my good-bys to Pam and headed off to find a warm place to stand. It was supposed to be fan appreciation day and there were events scheduled to take place outdoors before the game started. Now that seemed like a lot of fun last week when it was just really snowy out but it was 10 below zero without the wind chill so outdoor anything did not seen like fun. Remember the snow boots and snow pants I took along?? I decided against wearing them since I would be indoors most of the day so they were still in my van. I was OK about not wearing the pants but my toes were really missing those snow boots. I did find two tents set up for the enjoyment of the fans. The first tent was the VIP tent..this tent had a great jazz band, full bar, possibly food, beautiful purple tablecloths...security personnel looking for a VIP pass...yeah, you get where I'm going with this. I then walked over to what I dubbed the loser's tent. It was the same size as the other one but there was no band, no refreshments, the tables were set up but not decorated, the TV's (to watch the pre-game show) weren't turned on but they did have a blower keeping it above zero in there. This is where I decided to hang out. I did get a great view of the media people entering the dome though.
Finally 10:00 came and I was able to get inside where the real action was. It took a few minutes to find my seat but I was very pleased with where I was sitting. I was in the lower section of the dome but I was at the top part closest to the exit. My view of the field was the 40 yrd line and the Vikings bench. I was able to wander around and get something overpriced to eat and then take photos of the two teams warming up and chat with other early fans. The time went by surprisingly fast.
About 10 minutes before kickoff I began to wonder if the game was a sellout because there were still quite a few empty seats. About 5 minutes before kickoff, almost all of them were filled. Right as they were getting ready to do the team introduction, every idiot not in his or her seat all decided that they needed to find a place to stand...RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!!!. Ok, not quite in front of me since there were people in seats in front of me but since I was an end seat near an exit I got quite a bit of traffic and at least one of my photos was ruined by someone blocking my shot at he last moment. I still managed to get a few of the team going on the field though.
Here is where I now confess that I am spoiled by watching TV. I'm used to seeing things up close and personal. It took a bit of time to get used to watching the action as it happened from a distance. I could still watch it on the screens but that's not as much fun. Thankfully, I do know that the yellow and blue lines you see on TV are just special effects and not painted on the field. What made watching the game live so special was the excitement of the fans. There is something unique about hearing the noise 60,000 people make. The other great part was being able to yell and scream and jump up and down with unbridled enthusiasm and not have to worry about waking up a sleeping child or getting "the look" from the husband. Yes, screaming at the top of the lungs was totally encouraged. And there was a lot to scream about. The first drive resulted in a touchdown and it just kept getting better from there. I now know the words to the Viking fight song since it is played after every score and at the end of the game 44 points had been scored. I was in football heaven. For as much grousing I did over "The Purple One" defecting to the team I was very much impressed with his playing ability and considered it a real treat to have seen him play live. As for the other Super Bowl quarterback, Eli manning??? Well, sadly, he did not put in a very good performance and I was a little disappointed. I was hoping to at least see him do a few cool things but if it means a Vikings win then sorry Eli.
Halftime was fun to watch. They had various contests on the field and several lucky people walked away with great prizes. Since it was fan appreciation day random sections were selected to receive free items. This was where I was wishing for a seat up in the nosebleed section since the upper levels seemed to benefit more than those of us in good view land. The one prize I wanted was the Target gift cards and chance to win a $1500 Target shopping spree but alas that went to the lucky lady in Nosebleedland. I tried to call the loving husband and my dad but it was really hard to hear with all the crowd noise so I kept things really short.
The second half started off much like the first..mainly more scoring. When the score hit 44 there was much speculation as to how much more playing time certain players would see. I already had my suspicions when I did not recognise the player who caught the last touchdown pass. Shortly before the end of the 3rd quarter I noticed the number 7 had appeared on the field instead of the number 4 which meant Travaris Jackson, the back-up QB was now in charge. After that the Giants scored their only points of the game. I also started to notice other unfamiliar numbers on the field. At that point the tone of the game changed. It was much more quiet and reserved and I spent more time sitting vs. standing but I was able to take photos of the teams. The fans started to leave at the end of the 3rd and by the end of the game most had started out in attempt to beat traffic.
After the game was over I managed to make my way over to where Pam was located. I got to go up into the booth she works in and meet her co-workers. I also got to walk past the visiting team locker room but of course was not permitted to take pictures and no, Eli and Co didn't appear. I did get a neat shot of the stuff being loaded onto the equipment truck. We made our way onto the field where I was able to take more pictures and have mine taken on the 50 yrd line. Really cool if you ask me.
When it was time to go, we were able to walk into the private lot the players get to park their cars in. Not much action there and no photos but still neat. I also got to get a few shots of the Giants buses waiting for the team and again when they were getting the police escort to the airport. I know, dorky but it's not like I'm ever gonna get to do that again.
The ride up to the game was fun and the day beautiful but the ride back home from the game was the total opposite. Unfortunately, Pam's car developed some sort of problem, possibly a loose hose so the car kept overheating. Ironically, the cold weather probably helped keep things from getting too damaged but the having to stop every few miles and add antifreeze and wait 10-15 minutes for the engine to cool down was not fun. Temps were dipping into the double digits below zero and once again I was wishing for those snow boots. The worst stop was on the side of the road between Apple Valley and Northfield...BRRRRRRRRR. Thankfully we finally managed to get our thoroughly frozen selves back to Pam's place.
It was late but I knew I needed to get home so I packed up and off I went. My van wasn't too happy about sitting outside undriven overnight but thankfully warmed up quite nicely so unlike my ride back from Minneapolis I had a warm comfy trip back to my house. It was still long and due to the car problems I was leaving about 3 hours later than my original plan so I didn't get home until after midnight. Dog tired I walked in the door, dropped my stuff on the floor and headed downstairs to greet the loving husband. Unfortunately, I found out both he and Carolyn had picked up the stomach bug and were not feeling that well. Oh well, back to reality.
I'm hoping I figure out what is wrong with my PC so I can download my photos and post them. Hopefully soon. I've got some great shots I want to share with you.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Wonderful white Christmas
It's the day after Christmas and I'm sitting here at the table looking out to the beautiful white snowdrifts that cover our backyard. I confess that I like the whole idea of a white Christmas and yes, I like the song and movie of the same name too. When I was younger I would always get mad if we had a brown Christmas. One especially cruel year we received several inches of snow the week before the holiday and then it promptly warmed up and was all melted by the big day.
This year we were promised not only a white Christmas, but a huge snowstorm burying the whole state white Christmas. I know several of my friends were none too pleased with this forecast since it would prove difficult for travel both for family members or for themselves in the effort to spend this day with loved ones. Sad to say, I was actually looking forward to a big storm with lots of snow. I'll admit the timing sucked a bit but I did get my white Christmas.
So what did we actually do??? Well, I spent the last few days before the storm watching the weather reports to make sure this was for real and not just meteorologists using up air time. Thankfully I had finished all my gift shopping so I did not have to worry about the last minute panic shopping some poor folks had to do. I also made sure that the teacher gifts went to school on Monday or Tuesday. I decided to do the grocery shopping with the thought of having Christmas dinner at home instead of in Yankton. I called it the back-up food. Hubby did decide we should do turkey instead of the pork roast I bought so the roast is in the freezer. By Wednesday we were prepared so all we had to do was sit and wait.
Christmas Eve day dawned cold and grey with a small amount of white stuff having fallen the night before but this was truly the calm before the storm. I took the kids outside to burn off extra energy and was very thankful my neighbor has a snow blower so I didn't have to spend 30 minutes shoveling the end of my driveway. The loving husband had to work but got off early enough to run into Sioux Falls for a few last minute things and to pick up our pizza. We decided to go to the 6 pm Mass since that was the Children's Mass. By then things were pretty icky out and they were soon going to be closing the interstates. Our church is only a few miles from our house and in town so we were OK. The kids did really well sitting through the service. We decided to sit right down in front so everyone could see what was going on. Andrew loved singing the songs and he sat there with his book on his lap "reading" along. When it came time for the sermon, the priest decided to call all the children up front and sit and talk to them about the Nativity scene and the meaning of Christmas. He was asking the children questions and they were giving answers. My moment of pride was when Matthew said he learns about Jesus from his mom and dad and I'm not sure why but Carolyn said she learns about Jesus in school---maybe she's confusing the religion lessons we do with Matthew at home. My moment of wanting to slide under the pew came when Matthew decided to tell the priest he had a song about baby Jesus and then proceeded to sing it to him. I don't know what he sang but the priest seemed impressed and the congregation gave him applause. When I asked Matthew where he learned this song he told me the words were in his brain. After the service was over we stopped and looked at the dancing lights. There is a house that is decked out with 100,000 lights and choreographed to music a few blocks from our house so we make a point to visit several times during the month. After we got home it was then time to get the kids settled down and into bed. That took a while. Carolyn was too excited to sleep and kept asking when Santa Claus was going to get to our house. Andrew decided to be a huge turkey and not go to bed until hubby finally took him upstairs around 10:30. I then made a mad dash for the stash of gifts and "Santa" stuff in the spare bedroom.
When it comes to buying Christmas gifts, I'm on top of it and I'm usually done a few weeks before Christmas. When it comes to wrapping said gifts...well that's usually done as last minute as possible. I hate wrapping gifts. If I could stuff everything into gift bags I would but small children love ripping open gifts so wrap I must. I did buy decorated gift boxes so I compromised and wrapped the toys and then put the clothing into the boxes and gift bags. I also wrapped the loving husband's gifts too since I know he wrapped all mine. I find that doing the wrapping and filling the stockings late Christmas Eve while watching some sort of Christmas concert or church service is quite enjoyable. Hubby came down later in the evening and we finished watching the Pope do Mass from Vatican City. We then spent another hour or so flipping channels watching bits and pieces from the various 24 hour marathon showings of different movies. It was close to 3 am when we finally decided to go to bed.
Matthew was the first to wake up Christmas morning and that was a little before 7. Carolyn was up about a half hour later. They both wanted to wake Andrew up but thankfully hubby convinced them to not do that. Andrew woke up about an hour later on his own and was quite cheerful. After he got up then the opening of the presents commenced. I tried not to go too overboard with the toys for the kids. Andrew got a total of 2 toys and Matthew and Carolyn got 3. I got one item for all the kids to share..it is called a wobble board. It is a balance board somewhat like a Wii board but it has colors on top and you have to tip the colored part to the floor in order to play the game. Hubby got himself a gun safe earlier this month and called it his gift from me. I suck at getting him gifts so I was more than happy to let him do that. I did get him a few small items from the kids so he had something to open.
During the chaos that was gift opening, the kids handed me three gifts of various sizes. The first one was long and flat. The loving husband had framed the shooting target I had shot back in September. How sweet. The second was an average size box. I opened it and the USPS bag inside and found the t-shirt I wanted. OK, not the exact one but even better. After I got my black belt I told the loving husband I wanted a t-shirt that said "black belt mom" on it. He decided that the shirts from the online stores implied that my kid was the black belt so he found a different site and created a shirt that said "This mommy's a black belt". How cute. Both of those gifts were kind of expected since I did tell the husband I wanted to frame my target and I wanted to get a t-shirt. It was the third gift that totally blew me away.
The box said peanut butter granola bars and had an odd rattle to it like a gift card was inside. My brain was thinking i tunes or JC Penny's. What came out when I opened it was white ticket that said Minnesota Vikings in purple along the side. It took a moment to comprehend exactly what it was I was holding in my hand and then it hit me. A GAME TICKET!!!!!! At that point all I could say was "oh my" and "I'm gonna cry". The wonderful amazing incredibly loving husband had bought me a ticket to see the Vikings play the New York Giants at home in the Metrodome. The game is next Sunday so I'll have a whole weekend of no husband and kids while I head over to Minnesota. I have friends in the area so I have a place to stay and things to do. I'm sooooooo excited.
After the gifts we fed the kids cinnamon rolls and then dressed up and headed outside to dig ourselves out. I got some nice shots of the kids playing in the big snow mounds. We have wonderful neighbors who own snow blowers so some of the big plowing was done for us. No travel was advised and the interstates were closed so we were snowed in. Good thing I bought back up Christmas dinner. The turkey was great. The kids spent the afternoon playing with their new toys and watching Christmas specials on TV. Later that evening hubby went back outside to shovel more snow since it was snowing and blowing most of the day. We had waffles for supper and the kids ate way too much candy. All in all it was a great day.
Well Christmas has come and gone. Carolyn wants Santa Claus to visit tonight but I reminded her he only visits on Christmas Eve. We still have to do Christmas with Jim's family since we were not able to do it on Thursday or even today. We also have to go to Chamberlain on Monday to meet my folks. I'm hoping the roads are cleared by then and we can travel safely. Now that I got my white Christmas I'm good for this year. We got dumped on and have about 18-19 inches of the white stuff. More, if you measure the snow drifts. I'm hoping that's the last snow storm we get this winter. I also want good traveling weather this week and next, especially next Saturday.
This year we were promised not only a white Christmas, but a huge snowstorm burying the whole state white Christmas. I know several of my friends were none too pleased with this forecast since it would prove difficult for travel both for family members or for themselves in the effort to spend this day with loved ones. Sad to say, I was actually looking forward to a big storm with lots of snow. I'll admit the timing sucked a bit but I did get my white Christmas.
So what did we actually do??? Well, I spent the last few days before the storm watching the weather reports to make sure this was for real and not just meteorologists using up air time. Thankfully I had finished all my gift shopping so I did not have to worry about the last minute panic shopping some poor folks had to do. I also made sure that the teacher gifts went to school on Monday or Tuesday. I decided to do the grocery shopping with the thought of having Christmas dinner at home instead of in Yankton. I called it the back-up food. Hubby did decide we should do turkey instead of the pork roast I bought so the roast is in the freezer. By Wednesday we were prepared so all we had to do was sit and wait.
Christmas Eve day dawned cold and grey with a small amount of white stuff having fallen the night before but this was truly the calm before the storm. I took the kids outside to burn off extra energy and was very thankful my neighbor has a snow blower so I didn't have to spend 30 minutes shoveling the end of my driveway. The loving husband had to work but got off early enough to run into Sioux Falls for a few last minute things and to pick up our pizza. We decided to go to the 6 pm Mass since that was the Children's Mass. By then things were pretty icky out and they were soon going to be closing the interstates. Our church is only a few miles from our house and in town so we were OK. The kids did really well sitting through the service. We decided to sit right down in front so everyone could see what was going on. Andrew loved singing the songs and he sat there with his book on his lap "reading" along. When it came time for the sermon, the priest decided to call all the children up front and sit and talk to them about the Nativity scene and the meaning of Christmas. He was asking the children questions and they were giving answers. My moment of pride was when Matthew said he learns about Jesus from his mom and dad and I'm not sure why but Carolyn said she learns about Jesus in school---maybe she's confusing the religion lessons we do with Matthew at home. My moment of wanting to slide under the pew came when Matthew decided to tell the priest he had a song about baby Jesus and then proceeded to sing it to him. I don't know what he sang but the priest seemed impressed and the congregation gave him applause. When I asked Matthew where he learned this song he told me the words were in his brain. After the service was over we stopped and looked at the dancing lights. There is a house that is decked out with 100,000 lights and choreographed to music a few blocks from our house so we make a point to visit several times during the month. After we got home it was then time to get the kids settled down and into bed. That took a while. Carolyn was too excited to sleep and kept asking when Santa Claus was going to get to our house. Andrew decided to be a huge turkey and not go to bed until hubby finally took him upstairs around 10:30. I then made a mad dash for the stash of gifts and "Santa" stuff in the spare bedroom.
When it comes to buying Christmas gifts, I'm on top of it and I'm usually done a few weeks before Christmas. When it comes to wrapping said gifts...well that's usually done as last minute as possible. I hate wrapping gifts. If I could stuff everything into gift bags I would but small children love ripping open gifts so wrap I must. I did buy decorated gift boxes so I compromised and wrapped the toys and then put the clothing into the boxes and gift bags. I also wrapped the loving husband's gifts too since I know he wrapped all mine. I find that doing the wrapping and filling the stockings late Christmas Eve while watching some sort of Christmas concert or church service is quite enjoyable. Hubby came down later in the evening and we finished watching the Pope do Mass from Vatican City. We then spent another hour or so flipping channels watching bits and pieces from the various 24 hour marathon showings of different movies. It was close to 3 am when we finally decided to go to bed.
Matthew was the first to wake up Christmas morning and that was a little before 7. Carolyn was up about a half hour later. They both wanted to wake Andrew up but thankfully hubby convinced them to not do that. Andrew woke up about an hour later on his own and was quite cheerful. After he got up then the opening of the presents commenced. I tried not to go too overboard with the toys for the kids. Andrew got a total of 2 toys and Matthew and Carolyn got 3. I got one item for all the kids to share..it is called a wobble board. It is a balance board somewhat like a Wii board but it has colors on top and you have to tip the colored part to the floor in order to play the game. Hubby got himself a gun safe earlier this month and called it his gift from me. I suck at getting him gifts so I was more than happy to let him do that. I did get him a few small items from the kids so he had something to open.
During the chaos that was gift opening, the kids handed me three gifts of various sizes. The first one was long and flat. The loving husband had framed the shooting target I had shot back in September. How sweet. The second was an average size box. I opened it and the USPS bag inside and found the t-shirt I wanted. OK, not the exact one but even better. After I got my black belt I told the loving husband I wanted a t-shirt that said "black belt mom" on it. He decided that the shirts from the online stores implied that my kid was the black belt so he found a different site and created a shirt that said "This mommy's a black belt". How cute. Both of those gifts were kind of expected since I did tell the husband I wanted to frame my target and I wanted to get a t-shirt. It was the third gift that totally blew me away.
The box said peanut butter granola bars and had an odd rattle to it like a gift card was inside. My brain was thinking i tunes or JC Penny's. What came out when I opened it was white ticket that said Minnesota Vikings in purple along the side. It took a moment to comprehend exactly what it was I was holding in my hand and then it hit me. A GAME TICKET!!!!!! At that point all I could say was "oh my" and "I'm gonna cry". The wonderful amazing incredibly loving husband had bought me a ticket to see the Vikings play the New York Giants at home in the Metrodome. The game is next Sunday so I'll have a whole weekend of no husband and kids while I head over to Minnesota. I have friends in the area so I have a place to stay and things to do. I'm sooooooo excited.
After the gifts we fed the kids cinnamon rolls and then dressed up and headed outside to dig ourselves out. I got some nice shots of the kids playing in the big snow mounds. We have wonderful neighbors who own snow blowers so some of the big plowing was done for us. No travel was advised and the interstates were closed so we were snowed in. Good thing I bought back up Christmas dinner. The turkey was great. The kids spent the afternoon playing with their new toys and watching Christmas specials on TV. Later that evening hubby went back outside to shovel more snow since it was snowing and blowing most of the day. We had waffles for supper and the kids ate way too much candy. All in all it was a great day.
Well Christmas has come and gone. Carolyn wants Santa Claus to visit tonight but I reminded her he only visits on Christmas Eve. We still have to do Christmas with Jim's family since we were not able to do it on Thursday or even today. We also have to go to Chamberlain on Monday to meet my folks. I'm hoping the roads are cleared by then and we can travel safely. Now that I got my white Christmas I'm good for this year. We got dumped on and have about 18-19 inches of the white stuff. More, if you measure the snow drifts. I'm hoping that's the last snow storm we get this winter. I also want good traveling weather this week and next, especially next Saturday.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
The Christmas story
It's Christmas Eve and soon we will celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. We will go to church and hear the story of His birth and celebrate this miracle.
Now we all know the Christmas story, it's pretty familiar...Mary and Joseph go to Bethlehem and she gives birth to Jesus. Shepards follow the star to the stable and tell everyone the good news. Three wise men show up and give gifts... I happen to like the version in the Gospel of Luke the best but they all are pretty good.
Now of course these events were written down hundreds of years after the actual event and they are a composit of the oral stories that were told. In the spirit of Christmas I have decided to give my take on this wonderful story. Please know that I mean no disrespect to the original authors or to this story.
First we have Mary. She's just sitting there minding her own business when out of nowhere the angel Gabriel appears and tells her that God has chosen her to be the mother of His child. I'm sure Mary is asking herself what herbs were in the tea she was drinking. She listens to what Gabriel tells her and agrees to God's plan even though it means becoming an unwed single mother--not a very popular career choice in those days.
Fast forward to the dinner table that night. I'm thinking the conversation went something like this. "Mom and Dad, you're not gonna believe this but an angel named Gabriel visited me this afternoon and you know those prophesies we read about in the Torah, the ones about God sending a Messiah? Well not only has God chosen me to fulfill them but in 9 months you're gonna be grandparents." Yeah, that's a real conversation starter.
Next, we move on to poor Joseph the fiancee. He hears this news and I'm sure he's thinking that his wife to be has been listening to a few too many Roman storytellers. It's either that or craziness runs in the family and they conveniently forgot to mention it to him when they were drawing up that marriage contract. He's going "I'm outta here" and starts making plans to quietly break the contract and look elsewhere for a new wife. Is it any wonder God has to tell him in a dream that no, Mary is not crazy and no, you can't get out of your marriage, and yes, she really is pregnant by the Holy Spirit. He wakes up and does the right thing and takes a wife and gets ready to be a father.
Now here is where things get really fun. Thanks to Julius Cesar, Joseph and Mary have to make a long journey via donkey just to be counted. I'm so glad that all we have to do is fill out a form and mail it in. I'm sure the last thing Mary wanted to do was spend hours at a time sitting on a donkey for days on end. I really feel for these two people. They finally arrive tired and hungry only to find no place to stay. This was before telephones and the Internet so advance reservations were unheard of back then. They go from place to place begging for a room. Not even the plight of a very pregnant mama to be will soften the hearts of these innkeepers. Thankfully there is one guy who at least lets them bunk down in the stable. I'm sure he probably charged them for the "privilege" too.
Well at this point Mary has the baby. Now I wonder if she had to go through labor like the rest of us women do. If God cursed us with painful childbirth because of Original Sin and Mary was born without Original Sin (according to the Catholic Church) would she be exempt from the long and painful labor? I'd like to think that when the time came God commanded Jesus be born and He appeared instead of poor Mary all alone and in pain with only her husband (and hopefully a midwife) present. At any rate the new baby had to have been cold since it does get quite chilly at night. The only items he got to wear were whatever rags and blankets Mary packed to take with her. But at least he was loved and had a place to sleep even if he had to share it with animals.
The last part of this story involves a group of shepards out doing their job. Suddenly a group of angels appears and tells them that the really neat star they have been admiring is actually a marker and if they follow it they will be amongst the first to see the new king. After the angels leave I'm betting those guys looked at each other and said "you saw that didn't you?" Perhaps they asked themselves if maybe it was the wine they had drunk for supper that caused them to see things. In any case, they decided that what the heck why not go and check out this child the angels spoke about. I'm sure Mary was happy to have guests, even if they were strangers. I'd like to imagine her showing off this little baby, eyes full of pride to these simple shepards telling them yes, he is the Messiah and yes, you can hold him.
Twelve days later when the Wise Men arrived, the gifts got much better. Hopefully, the couple sold those gifts to pay for the trip to Egypt they had to take due to the very real and very mean king who wanted to see the baby dead.
This story is possible because of three very important things. They are belief, acceptance, and obedience. The first and most important is belief. Mary believed that the angel was from God and she was chosen to fulfill the scriptures. Joseph believed that what was told to him in a dream was in fact God speaking to him telling him not to abandon Mary in her time of need. The Shepard's also believed. They made the choice to listen to those angles and leave their sheep and follow a star in search of a baby.
The second thing is acceptance. Mary accepted the will of God and accepted the challenge of motherhood. She had to know how difficult this task was going to be and she did it without complaint. Joseph had to accept the fact God chose him to fulfill His role as the earthly father Jesus needed. I'm not sure if he is the patron saint of adoption but he should be. Imagine how he had to feel knowing the child his wife was carrying wasn't his and yet he was expected to raise and love this child as if he was his own. The shepards were willing to accept the news of the birth but I'm sure they spent time questioning whether or not they would be believed.
The last thing is the most important and that is obedience. Mary obeyed God's command and put her faith in Him. She was his faithful servant and even though she was given a very unreal set of circumstances, she obeyed and fulfilled the role God had designed for her. Joseph was put in a very unfavorable situation but he still obeyed. It would have been very embarrassing for him to admit that his intended was pregnant before they were married and I'm not sure how many people would believe him if he said that not only was the child not his, it was conceived by the Holy Spirit and was God's son. He had every right to walk away and not look back but when God told him that he was needed, Joseph obeyed. The shepards listened to the message given to them by the angles and they obeyed and did as they were told which was to spread the word that the Messiah was here.
Well there you have it, my version of the Christmas story. I hope you have enjoyed it. I want to wish all of you a very merry and Blessed Christmas.
Now we all know the Christmas story, it's pretty familiar...Mary and Joseph go to Bethlehem and she gives birth to Jesus. Shepards follow the star to the stable and tell everyone the good news. Three wise men show up and give gifts... I happen to like the version in the Gospel of Luke the best but they all are pretty good.
Now of course these events were written down hundreds of years after the actual event and they are a composit of the oral stories that were told. In the spirit of Christmas I have decided to give my take on this wonderful story. Please know that I mean no disrespect to the original authors or to this story.
First we have Mary. She's just sitting there minding her own business when out of nowhere the angel Gabriel appears and tells her that God has chosen her to be the mother of His child. I'm sure Mary is asking herself what herbs were in the tea she was drinking. She listens to what Gabriel tells her and agrees to God's plan even though it means becoming an unwed single mother--not a very popular career choice in those days.
Fast forward to the dinner table that night. I'm thinking the conversation went something like this. "Mom and Dad, you're not gonna believe this but an angel named Gabriel visited me this afternoon and you know those prophesies we read about in the Torah, the ones about God sending a Messiah? Well not only has God chosen me to fulfill them but in 9 months you're gonna be grandparents." Yeah, that's a real conversation starter.
Next, we move on to poor Joseph the fiancee. He hears this news and I'm sure he's thinking that his wife to be has been listening to a few too many Roman storytellers. It's either that or craziness runs in the family and they conveniently forgot to mention it to him when they were drawing up that marriage contract. He's going "I'm outta here" and starts making plans to quietly break the contract and look elsewhere for a new wife. Is it any wonder God has to tell him in a dream that no, Mary is not crazy and no, you can't get out of your marriage, and yes, she really is pregnant by the Holy Spirit. He wakes up and does the right thing and takes a wife and gets ready to be a father.
Now here is where things get really fun. Thanks to Julius Cesar, Joseph and Mary have to make a long journey via donkey just to be counted. I'm so glad that all we have to do is fill out a form and mail it in. I'm sure the last thing Mary wanted to do was spend hours at a time sitting on a donkey for days on end. I really feel for these two people. They finally arrive tired and hungry only to find no place to stay. This was before telephones and the Internet so advance reservations were unheard of back then. They go from place to place begging for a room. Not even the plight of a very pregnant mama to be will soften the hearts of these innkeepers. Thankfully there is one guy who at least lets them bunk down in the stable. I'm sure he probably charged them for the "privilege" too.
Well at this point Mary has the baby. Now I wonder if she had to go through labor like the rest of us women do. If God cursed us with painful childbirth because of Original Sin and Mary was born without Original Sin (according to the Catholic Church) would she be exempt from the long and painful labor? I'd like to think that when the time came God commanded Jesus be born and He appeared instead of poor Mary all alone and in pain with only her husband (and hopefully a midwife) present. At any rate the new baby had to have been cold since it does get quite chilly at night. The only items he got to wear were whatever rags and blankets Mary packed to take with her. But at least he was loved and had a place to sleep even if he had to share it with animals.
The last part of this story involves a group of shepards out doing their job. Suddenly a group of angels appears and tells them that the really neat star they have been admiring is actually a marker and if they follow it they will be amongst the first to see the new king. After the angels leave I'm betting those guys looked at each other and said "you saw that didn't you?" Perhaps they asked themselves if maybe it was the wine they had drunk for supper that caused them to see things. In any case, they decided that what the heck why not go and check out this child the angels spoke about. I'm sure Mary was happy to have guests, even if they were strangers. I'd like to imagine her showing off this little baby, eyes full of pride to these simple shepards telling them yes, he is the Messiah and yes, you can hold him.
Twelve days later when the Wise Men arrived, the gifts got much better. Hopefully, the couple sold those gifts to pay for the trip to Egypt they had to take due to the very real and very mean king who wanted to see the baby dead.
This story is possible because of three very important things. They are belief, acceptance, and obedience. The first and most important is belief. Mary believed that the angel was from God and she was chosen to fulfill the scriptures. Joseph believed that what was told to him in a dream was in fact God speaking to him telling him not to abandon Mary in her time of need. The Shepard's also believed. They made the choice to listen to those angles and leave their sheep and follow a star in search of a baby.
The second thing is acceptance. Mary accepted the will of God and accepted the challenge of motherhood. She had to know how difficult this task was going to be and she did it without complaint. Joseph had to accept the fact God chose him to fulfill His role as the earthly father Jesus needed. I'm not sure if he is the patron saint of adoption but he should be. Imagine how he had to feel knowing the child his wife was carrying wasn't his and yet he was expected to raise and love this child as if he was his own. The shepards were willing to accept the news of the birth but I'm sure they spent time questioning whether or not they would be believed.
The last thing is the most important and that is obedience. Mary obeyed God's command and put her faith in Him. She was his faithful servant and even though she was given a very unreal set of circumstances, she obeyed and fulfilled the role God had designed for her. Joseph was put in a very unfavorable situation but he still obeyed. It would have been very embarrassing for him to admit that his intended was pregnant before they were married and I'm not sure how many people would believe him if he said that not only was the child not his, it was conceived by the Holy Spirit and was God's son. He had every right to walk away and not look back but when God told him that he was needed, Joseph obeyed. The shepards listened to the message given to them by the angles and they obeyed and did as they were told which was to spread the word that the Messiah was here.
Well there you have it, my version of the Christmas story. I hope you have enjoyed it. I want to wish all of you a very merry and Blessed Christmas.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Christmas yummies
My friend Jackie posted a blog about 7 foods she totally loves during the Christmas season. She challenged all of us fellow bloggers to make a list of our 7 faves and post for all to see. So here is my list of 7 (or so) Christmas yummy foods.
1. Cookies I totally love cookies and I seem to go through a lot more this time of the year. My personal favorite is oatmeal chocolate chip. I have a great recipe that I got from a cookbook my mother in law gave me some years ago. I have also found through trial and error that going half butter and half Crisco seems to produce the best results. When I'm not doing oatmeal chocolate chip I do peanut butter, chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, or sugar.
2. Green bean casserole Is there any more perfect food than this?? I prefer the french sliced in my casserole but the regular cut works ok too. My version has me using extra mushrooms, less milk for the cream soup (makes it richer and creamier) and those lovely crunchy onions in the middle and on top. I actually had the chef prepare this version for the buffet at my wedding.
3. Mashed potatoes I'm a spud lover. I love just about anything that comes from a potato, lefse (for those that are not of the Scandinavian heritage it is a flat bread made from potatoes), potato chips, french fries, potato oles, buttered new potatoes..and the list goes on and on. Over the years I have been able to cut down on the need for gravy. Of course, the more butter the better. Yes, I can tell the difference between box and real but if the box version is flavored that's ok. However, if you wanna do Christmas dinner right then boil and mash and don't forget the milk and butter.
4. People puppy chow I used to not really like this when I was younger. However, once I came upon a recipe that worked for me and with a few tweaks, well lets just say I have changed my ways. I usually make this for hubby's co-workers and the bowl always comes back empty. I also like to give it as a gift to others and it seems to be well received. My puppy chow involves using the Hy-Vee brand of Crispix cereal and milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet and I use extra powdered sugar to coat everything. Don't forget to use creamy peanut butter since it melts so much smoother that chunky.
5. Chocolate Well actually, I could do a 7 list of just chocolate things but I'll just lump them all in this entry. Hersey's Kisses top my list of seasonal chocolate. They taste the same in December as they do in October or March but it's the pretty red and green wrapping foil that does it. Same for the red an green M&M's. Also on the list are those wonderful Advent Calenders they sell that have 24 or 25 little windows that you open up each day in order to count the days till Christmas. Chocolate every day, now that's what I'm talking about.
6. Pizza Yes, this is one of my stranger items but it does have a nice story to it. For quite a few years my family would go out for pizza on Christmas Eve after church. Great tradition, except for the year almost everyone got sick from the pizza but even that is a special (tragic but still special) memory. I still like to do pizza on Christmas Eve whenever I can, even if the loving husband likes to do the traditional oyster stew.
7. Candy canes Oh wonder of all wonders the candy cane. I look forward to these lovely sweet happy treats. I know they are the same thing as those little round peppermint candies you can buy but it's just not the same. There is something about hanging them on a tree or putting one on a package as a decoration or even wrapping a brown pipe cleaner on it and gluing eyes and a nose to make Rudolph that brings out the kid in me. I don't put them on my tree since they would be gone in a matter of minutes, eaten by the kids. They also serve a very useful purpose...you use it as a stir stick for the hot cocoa.
Honorable mentions
My oatmeal scotchie bars A few years ago I accidentally bought a package of butterscotch chips. Hubby is not all that fond of butterscotch and neither am I but I was not about to waste a perfectly good package of chips so I just made the bar recipe on the back of the bag. It turns out that the rest of my extended family are HUGE butterscotch lovers and these bars disappear whenever I make them
Coca Cola Cold I do a post without mentioning this wonderful drink? Now admit it, you were singing "I'd like to teach the world to sing... I'd like to buy the world the Coke and keep it company..." in your head weren't you? If that one is a little too old then think polar bears or the Santa trucks. Either way, nothing says Merry Christmas like a nice cold Coca Cola.
There you have it, my list of 7 or so foods that I love this time of the year. If you have any questions or want a recipe then let me know. I love sharing.
1. Cookies I totally love cookies and I seem to go through a lot more this time of the year. My personal favorite is oatmeal chocolate chip. I have a great recipe that I got from a cookbook my mother in law gave me some years ago. I have also found through trial and error that going half butter and half Crisco seems to produce the best results. When I'm not doing oatmeal chocolate chip I do peanut butter, chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, or sugar.
2. Green bean casserole Is there any more perfect food than this?? I prefer the french sliced in my casserole but the regular cut works ok too. My version has me using extra mushrooms, less milk for the cream soup (makes it richer and creamier) and those lovely crunchy onions in the middle and on top. I actually had the chef prepare this version for the buffet at my wedding.
3. Mashed potatoes I'm a spud lover. I love just about anything that comes from a potato, lefse (for those that are not of the Scandinavian heritage it is a flat bread made from potatoes), potato chips, french fries, potato oles, buttered new potatoes..and the list goes on and on. Over the years I have been able to cut down on the need for gravy. Of course, the more butter the better. Yes, I can tell the difference between box and real but if the box version is flavored that's ok. However, if you wanna do Christmas dinner right then boil and mash and don't forget the milk and butter.
4. People puppy chow I used to not really like this when I was younger. However, once I came upon a recipe that worked for me and with a few tweaks, well lets just say I have changed my ways. I usually make this for hubby's co-workers and the bowl always comes back empty. I also like to give it as a gift to others and it seems to be well received. My puppy chow involves using the Hy-Vee brand of Crispix cereal and milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet and I use extra powdered sugar to coat everything. Don't forget to use creamy peanut butter since it melts so much smoother that chunky.
5. Chocolate Well actually, I could do a 7 list of just chocolate things but I'll just lump them all in this entry. Hersey's Kisses top my list of seasonal chocolate. They taste the same in December as they do in October or March but it's the pretty red and green wrapping foil that does it. Same for the red an green M&M's. Also on the list are those wonderful Advent Calenders they sell that have 24 or 25 little windows that you open up each day in order to count the days till Christmas. Chocolate every day, now that's what I'm talking about.
6. Pizza Yes, this is one of my stranger items but it does have a nice story to it. For quite a few years my family would go out for pizza on Christmas Eve after church. Great tradition, except for the year almost everyone got sick from the pizza but even that is a special (tragic but still special) memory. I still like to do pizza on Christmas Eve whenever I can, even if the loving husband likes to do the traditional oyster stew.
7. Candy canes Oh wonder of all wonders the candy cane. I look forward to these lovely sweet happy treats. I know they are the same thing as those little round peppermint candies you can buy but it's just not the same. There is something about hanging them on a tree or putting one on a package as a decoration or even wrapping a brown pipe cleaner on it and gluing eyes and a nose to make Rudolph that brings out the kid in me. I don't put them on my tree since they would be gone in a matter of minutes, eaten by the kids. They also serve a very useful purpose...you use it as a stir stick for the hot cocoa.
Honorable mentions
My oatmeal scotchie bars A few years ago I accidentally bought a package of butterscotch chips. Hubby is not all that fond of butterscotch and neither am I but I was not about to waste a perfectly good package of chips so I just made the bar recipe on the back of the bag. It turns out that the rest of my extended family are HUGE butterscotch lovers and these bars disappear whenever I make them
Coca Cola Cold I do a post without mentioning this wonderful drink? Now admit it, you were singing "I'd like to teach the world to sing... I'd like to buy the world the Coke and keep it company..." in your head weren't you? If that one is a little too old then think polar bears or the Santa trucks. Either way, nothing says Merry Christmas like a nice cold Coca Cola.
There you have it, my list of 7 or so foods that I love this time of the year. If you have any questions or want a recipe then let me know. I love sharing.
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