A Hippo for Christmas

I’ve been in my Talk Radio phase for a  couple of years now.  Before that I was in my Country Music phase and before that it was the Music of the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s.  The problem with music is that I don’t like most of it.  Even in my genre of choice, say Country Music, I probably don’t like half of the songs.  So when I have the radio on my favorite Country Music station I have to listen to song after song after song and commercial after commercial before I hear I song I like.

I decided I was too old to waste time listening to stuff I don’t like,  in the hopes that eventually something good will come on.  So I switched to Talk Radio.  It offers voices for company and often they are actually discussing a topic of interest.  There are still those endless commercials but the endless list of bad songs is gone.

But this time of year I can tune my radio to a couple of music stations and what do I hear?  Christmas songs!  Endless Christmas songs!  And has there ever been a bad Christmas song?  Not that I’ve ever heard.  I’ll hear repeated versions of  I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas,  Hey Santa, The First Noel,  and Oh, Holy Night.  Once in awhile I’ll hear The Twelve Days of Christmas  sung by John Denver and The Muppets, and Kenny G playing Silent Night, and the Chipmunks singing All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth.   And if I’m really lucky this year I’ll hear one of my all time favorites, “I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas”, a real classic.

It truly is the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

Thanksgiving and Giving Thanks

East-Going Daughter had a safe trip to visit her love for Thanksgiving. Permanently residing Out-of-State Son and his family remained home for the holiday.  Just South-Going Daughter and Son-in-Law made it home to spend the holiday with us.   It would be fabulous to have all the offspring here for Thanksgiving but it was almost as good just to know that each of them were right where they needed to be, with people they love, and who love them.

Here, we got everything cleaned and organized and cooked and prepped.   When all had arrived we ate.  Then we ate a bit more.  We stoked the fire until it was too hot and we had to open the door.  We played Killer Bunnies (a truly festive holiday game!) and talked and laughed and ate some more until it was past everyone’s bedtime and we had to pack it in.

The next day South-Going Daughter and hubby and I made our annual trek to the Fred Meyer half-price sock sale with free donuts and apple juice on the side. Looking for socks and eating free donut holes is all the Black Friday shopping we can handle, so having survived that ordeal we  indulged ourselves (while South-Going Son-in-Law spent the day with his folks helping them around their place) by taking in the newest Muppet Movie starring my hero, Kermit the Frog. After which we splurged some more and went out to eat.  South-Going Daughter got some real Fettuccine Aflredo which she has sorely missed.

Today we lunched with South-Going Daughter and Son-in-Law at his folks’ place which was delicious and delightful and much fun.

So much to be thankful for.  Food and half price socks and silly board games. But most of all, just being with those we love and knowing that the others we love are safe and with loved ones, too.

Amen.

The Night Before Thanksgiving

‘Tis the night before Thanksgiving and all through the house our prep work is done.  Floors are swept and mopped.  The throw rugs are in the dryer.  Groceries are purchased and put away.  The pumpkin pies are in the oven and the boiled eggs are cooling.  A fire is blazing in the wood stove. Dinner has been eaten and the after-dinner tea is steeping. That’s about it until tomorrow morning.

Now we wait for South Going daughter and son-in-law to touch down at the airport and join us tomorrow for dinner and laughter and stories and games.

God bring you safely home.  We can hardly wait!

You Can’t Fence Time

There are some songs that just beg to be sung along with.

When my daughters were young I drove them to and from school each day so we spent a bit of time in the car. Naturally we’d listen to the radio and we soon found ourselves singing along with Sara Evan’s  Suds in the Bucket.  And we didn’t just sing along.  We’d crank up the radio, all join in, and pass around the “microphone” so we could take turns singing the lead.

Last night, after hugging my east-going daughter goodbye, we headed to our respective homes for the night before she flew out today to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with her boyfriend.  I was a couple minutes down the road when my phone rang.  I answered it (hands free, of course).  “Turn on KMPS,”  my east-going daughter said.  “Okay,” I answered wondering what the emergency was.

No emergency.  No, it was much more important than that.  Our song was playing!  So down the road we went, each in our own car driving opposite directions, our radios cranked up,  singing full throttle into our phones,  “… no you can’t fence time, and you can’t stop love.”

It was the perfect good bye to east-going daughter.  You can’t fence time.  And you can’t stop love.  East-going daughter will be gone for Thanksgiving to be with her love.  But she left me with a gift that I cherish.  Belting out our song together as we headed home.

Thank you, East-Going daughter! I loved it!

Mark Twain and a Ream of Paper

The other day when I was cleaning my book shelves I came across a set of Mark Twain books that I bought some years ago while in my old-book-collecting phase of life.  I’m not sure what induced me to buy this set of books other than the fact that they were old. There isn’t a  Huckleberry Finn or Tom Sawyer in the bunch.  Rather, I  have 15 books with titles like, The Gilded Age, Literary Essays, The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg, Etc.  Books I’d never heard of.

I still haven’t read them and now I’m tired of dusting them.  But I want them to have a good home where they are loved and appreciated.  So I asked my daughter if her boyfriend, the English/Drama major, might like to have them and he said yes! Of course, that was all the incentive I needed to decide to open one and take a look.  And I’m hooked.  I’m reading Innocents Abroad, Vol II.  (I’ll have to read Vol I, later.)  It’s fascinating, reading about Greece and Egypt thru’ the eyes of a visitor over a hundred years ago.  All wrapped in Twain’s humor.

But what really fascinates me is that Mark Twain wrote all of these books without a word processor!  He didn’t even really use a typewriter.  Yet he wrote books and articles by the dozens.   I’ve been sitting in front of my computer for over 30 minutes now. In between paragraphs and lapses of thought and umpteen corrections and alterations,  I hop on over to the internet for a picture or facts. Twain had none of that.

How many reams of paper did he go through? Did he make  zillions of revisions?  Or did it just flow from his brain, through his hand, to the page? It boogles my mind.

So Many Books, So Little Time

I got a fall-cleaning bug this past weekend and cleared out the bookshelves.

It was several hours’ work but at the end of the day I  had a stack of about 80 books that are going away, to friends, to church, to the used bookstore.  That felt good.

On the other hand I now have another stack of about 20 books that I’ve yet to read.  Of course, the day after my cleaning spree the library texted telling me that the book I’ve waited for, for about 2 months, is now in.  Of course, the day after that, a friend loaned me a good book.  And to top it off, today my daughter loaned me a book she highly recommends.

I’m now int0 3 books.  Not sure this is any faster than reading one at a time but it feels more like I’m getting somewhere.

Count Down to Thanksgiving

A week from tonight our south-going daughter and son-in-law come home for a visit.  Maybe we’ll have snow for them. That would be fun.  Probably we’ll have rain. That will be normal. But south-going daughter says she actually misses the gray, dull, rainyness of home.  Poor thing.  All she has is sunshine, sunshine every day.  Must be a burden.  So I’ll settle for more of our usual gray, dull, rainyness so my south-going daughter and son-in-law will have a pleasant visit while home.

Seven more days.

The Ides of November

There were only 30 degrees at 5:00 a.m.  when I headed out for my morning walk. But my road was paved with moon shadows, the sky was clear and bright, and the neighborhood was fast asleep.   Just me and my dog out dodging mud puddles, looking at the moon, and sniffing for elk.  That last part was my dog.  I don’t sniff for elk.  But we each enjoyed a glorious start to the day.

And my day ended with my usual afternoon walk.  At 4:00 p.m. the thermometer had added a few degrees,  up to 44.  The sun was still out, the leaves were gold, the air was crisp.  I dodged a few mud puddles, enjoyed the scenery, and my dog sniffed for elk.  Ah, that it could stay like this til spring!

My Recipe File Pile

I’ve spent way too much time on these recipes.  Tonight I’m making my third pass through this pile that I’ve collected from the magazines I subscribe to. Recipes like Eggnog Cake, and a list of 10 ideas for Vanilla Ice Cream,  and Key Lime Cheesecake Bars.  I have recipes for Tamale Pies, and Spaghetti Squash with Almonds, and Herbed Baked Spinach.

I’ve collected a list of ideas for snacks using nuts. And how could I resist the recipe for  Nettle Pizza?

I’ve trimmed  the pages of the recipes I’m keeping and many others I’ve completely tossed.  But even as the pile of discarded paper on the floor around me grows, the pile of recipes doesn’t seem to be getting any  smaller. And more daunting than the size of the pile of all these fabulous recipes is the truth of the matter. There probably isn’t time to try all of the recipes, anyway.

I think my only hope is to stop subscribing to these magazines.

Three Day Weekend Anticipation

A three day weekend!  Love it.  And the best part is the days before it starts. Just reveling in the idea that the day after, the day after tomorrow is a day off.  No work!  I can stay up late the night before, sleep in the day-of, then spend the day doing what I want. Yup, the best part, almost, of a 3 day weekend, is the looking-forward-to. The anticipation.

My plans for today were nothing earth shaking.  If fact, they were mostly running errands.  But the errands were mostly all about me.  I had made my list,  noted my plans, strategized my route. Plotted my ETD and ETA for  each destination.    I did so well at this as a matter of fact,  that I had time to add in a couple of extra stops and still I was done early. I gift shopped, grocery shopped, got my hair cut, and bought some clothes. Crossed off everything on my list and came home.

Emptied the car, put away my purchases, threw in some laundry, and started dinner.  Then I saw the note on the counter.  The note that started all this.  “Buy yeast” my note said.

Of course yeast is the one thing I did not buy today.