confessions

This is my favorite time of year with my girls.   We tromp around hither and yon going to plays and antique stores and parades and Nutcrackers and all manner of Christmas-y  field trips.

We also quietly and deliberately celebrate Advent in the evenings after dinner with Dad.

I love the contrast.   The quiet reverence.   The raucous joy.   All neatly wrapped up in one chilly December day.

Oh if all days could sit at Decembers’ feet and  learn to submit to the strain of this paradox.

And yet still, I haven’t shopped or decorated very much or even so much as made a December pan of fudge.

So far, it’s all basking in the Bright Light that has made their faces shine with salvation.

I know.   Pretty soon I’m gonna have to do more than bask.

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Speaking of bright shiny faces…….

Are you familiar with the awesomeness which is foo dogs?

Well, these ancient relics of Chinese (Buddhist) legend have  made their way into the hearts of eclectic home decorators everywhere.

They look like a mix between a lion and a dog and they’re so hideous they’re cute.

I’ve adopted an adorable very large pair from Greenville’s Antique Marketand  and they have willingly converted to Christianity and agreed to celebrate Advent with us.

They are guarding my screen porch Christmas tree as we speak.

Did I mention large?    And nearly the cutest things I’ve ever seen?   In a hideous/cute sort of a way.     May I add quite large?  The size of an average toddler?

Okay okay, here they are!  (I’m trying to give my sister a little time to *study* ( *see* them) in advance so she doesn’t totally lose it when she sees their glory in person.

I’m not gonna lie.  They’re outrageous—– in the most wonderful sort of way.

See, you can’t take your eyes off them.   You’re stunned.  You’re not sure we can be friends.

Just don’t make any rash decisions today.   You know you wanna like them.   You know you do.

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AND NOW,  you must concentrate because we have one item of business left.

I’m having a party next week and you’re invited.   Make that 3 parties.   3 linky parties full of Christmas food.

I  wanna wow the home crowd with goodies, new and old.  I do.

So I thought next week, we’d link up some of our favorite December recipes.    You can post a link or go all Pioneer Woman on me and post every last jot and tittle.

I’m giving you the weekend to cook something up and meet us here next week to swap ideas.

You can find last years’ cookie exchange here.

{I’ll try to make a cute party button like that soon!}

Monday–Appetizers

Wednesday–Sweets

Friday–Breads and Breakfast

I’ll try to get the linky working over the weekend and if all goes right, I won’t blow up the internet.

If you don’t have a blog, link to your Facebook page.   Or better yet, start a blog over the weekend (it’s really easy as pie) and we’ll be internet neighbors.

Are you in?  Or have the life sized foo dogs scarred you for life?

Do tell.

I’m still working my way through your questions and emails from the past couple weeks. If I don’t answer, try me again. It’s hard to keep track.
You can subscribe to this blog by email here. Hope that feature is helpful for some of you.

1. I think Scooter’s a little lonesome for Hank. Whatdaya think?  And he’s no dummy, yarn makes everything feel better.

2.  Speaking of yarn, I haven’t done much handiwork since the fire.   My mother-in-law, on the other hand has more drive and determination to get a project done than anyone I think I’ve ever met.  She has knit all her grandkids an afghan in the past couple of years.  (13 of them, I think?!)   And as if she didn’t have enough to worry about, she started knitting an afghan for Steve and I, since ours was lost in the fire.   I shouldn’t have been surprised when this came in the mail.

Yeah, I know.  Now pick yourself up off the floor and look at it from this angle.

It’s absolutely stunning.   My fingers hurt just thinking about it.  And this is one of MANY that she’s made lately.

I’ve forbidden anyone to touch it.  I drape it across the ottoman in my bedroom and admire its’ beauty every single day.

What an amazing gift!   We are so thankful.  It seems that this restoration has no end 🙂

3.  In contrast to that lovely work of art, I’m currently knitting a dishcloth.   Loser.

4.  JamieKnoxville is on a flight to visit as we speak.   She’s like a sister to me and when her and I and my sister get together, there’s gonna be trouble along with  loud singing of ‘Stand by Your Man’.   While most of us put on a pound or two as we age, she seems to get thinner and thinner.  Darn her.    So this is the text I sent her yesterday.

5.  Truth is, I’m the one who’s gonna need the stretch pants but she did say that all she’s bringing is ‘bed clothes’, translated lounge pants and sweat shirts.

Here are her list of demands.

–She doesn’t want to be over scheduled because porch sitting is her main objective.

–She told me not to do anything else to her room until she gets here—no bed skirt until she approves of it.

–She’s not coming unless there are black out shades on her windows.

I’ve complied with all her requests and I’ve even planned a night to watch Coal Miner’s Daughter.

{Deep Breath}.        I think I’m ready.

6.  As you know, I’m a foodie.  I love to cook and try new recipes but just like everyone else, I get into a rut.   I function much better with a meal plan for the week even if I don’t follow it exactly.  My friend Tammy recently told me about a site called Emealz, where you subscribe to a weekly meal plan for $5 per month.   With the subscription, you’re allowed to choose your grocery store and based on the sales at your store that week, a menu is posted that will feed a family of 4-6 for $80-90/week.   The menu is strategic in that it uses items more than once.  (Make chicken on Monday and make enough to use in a soup on Thursday.)  I’ve received two meal plans so far and I think I’m really gonna like it.  Most of the recipes are fairly easy but I’m impressed so far with the variety.  Here’s a sampling of last week’s menu.  The site also generates a shopping list for you based on the layout of the grocery store.  It just might revolutionize your 5 o’clock panic!  I made the creamy crock pot chicken today for lunch and it was wonderful and waiting for us when we got home from church!

7. Speaking of help with food, I updated my recipes page this weekend. These are tried and true recipes that are guaranteed to please. I’ve come to think that I’m somewhat of a ‘soup whisperer’. I make soups all the time and even branched out and made lasagna soup this weekend. It was FAB-you-lous. I highly recommend.

8. I’m making carrot cake right now and my house smells your grandma’s at Christmas. That happens to make me very happy. Since I lost all my recipes in the fire, I’m more determined than ever to preserve my favorites here. I did a little mixing of recipes for this carrot cake so I’ll let you know how she turns out.
Recipe to follow if all goes well.

9. I also updated the ’31 Days’ page so you can access the days easily. I added a link to the series at the bottom of my blog.

10. I’m reading Jane Eyre ever so slowly. It’s a great book and happens to be a classic that I never read. My classic-reading book club is marching right on despite my very sketchy presence over the past year. We’re reading The Wide Sargassa Sea next, which is a fictionalized ‘back story’ for Jane Eyre. Good stuff, I tell ya.

11. The girls and I are trying our best to keep up with school despite multiple distractions. Several of you have asked and I do hope to update you on our curriculum and such.

12. I’m working on Thanksgiving in my head. The new Southern living has some good recipes and ideas. I love my table setting from two years ago.

I need to find something fun for this year.   Pinterest can help, I’m sure!

p.s. The inside of my oven looks like I’ve lived here waaaayyy longer than a month. And it’s not even Thanksgiving yet.

Happy November 🙂

I learned a few things today from the contents of my frig.

the good:

-my crispers are full of good veggies

-we eat real butter (unlike some of my other very dear Lutheran friends who dare to cook with/eat margarine)

-we have plenty of left-overs, which adds to the lunch variety at home

-there’s a variety of good cheese:  gruyere, parmegianno regianno, sharp cheddar, maytag blue,  stilton, and real mozzarella

-we have plums picked from Jeff and Vicki’s plum tree that I must use soon (jelly?  tart?)

-i’ve switched to unsweet tea, which is not easy or normal for a Southern girl

-there’s homeade salsa (made by me) and homeade strawberry jam (made by my sister)

the bad:

-there’s 12 visible sticks of butter and plenty more that you don’t see—don’t be scared

-there are 2 pints of heavy cream

-and 2 quarts of half and half

-don’t judge me

-there are five different containers/kinds of mayo

-repeat the don’t judge me part

-there’s two Jethro- sized half used ketchup bottles that make me wanna vow never to shop at Sam’s again (there’s something about the xl ketchup bottles that makes me lose respect for myself)

the ugly:

-there’s a bowl of something that makes me afraid

-there’s mocha protein milk from sometime in the winter

-there’s a pack of petrified bulk sausage that i just discovered way in the back behind the mexican pasta

-there’s full calorie mike’s lemonade which may mean i’ve given up

When my new BFF Adraine issued this request to see inside our frig’s, I did not tidy up or otherwise move things around (as if that weren’t abundantly clear).   I think you should go right now and take a pic of the inside of your frig and post it on your blog and tell us all your dirty secrets.   Tell us in the comments if you do it.   I think this is big fun.

I vow to clean mine out.

Tomorrow.

You can peruse a host of frig’s here. Some of them are very funny.   Maybe pantries should be next!

Today is my little sister’s 40th birthday.   We had a surprise party for her on Sunday and I’m so happy we could honor her and decorate her up in gaudy party trappings!

She is an amazing woman.   She has been my rock during this grieving/recovering/rebuilding period.

She lives an hour away but comes to see me all the time.   To make sure I’m okay.   To see for herself that I’m not falling apart.

Or to hold my hand while I do.

I don’t know what I’d do without her.

She’s one of those gifted people who can do anything—-she can cook, clean, cut hair, hang beaded board, rewire a lamp, disassemble a large playset with a butter knife (in the rain),  raise children,  read a book in a day,  nurse the sick, comfort the grieving, laugh like nobody’s watching and listen to ‘High Cotton’ over and over again while we practice our clogging.

I made a video tribute for her but was unable to upload it because of  ‘copyright’ infringement.    I began it with ‘Hello Darlin’ by Conway Twitty and couldn’t resist adding ‘Stand by Your Man’ while the pictures of her husband played.

It was pretty priceless.  Just like her.

Bless her little heart, she had food poisoning 2 days before the party and was still a little ‘green’.   But she was a good sport and let us have our fun.

Her sister in law and my high school bestie, Shawna, hosted us.   She has such a beautiful house—-so of course I took a camera tour —-and thought you might enjoy the photos.

LOVE the built-ins and Graysen’s (Shawna’s daughter) turquoise room!

She has an awesome 2nd kitchen in her basement (left) and a gorgeous main kitchen with this brick flanked stove.

Her screen porch is to-die-for.   Love the ceiling and I think I’ll have to steal the double door entry idea.

Happy Birthday Sis! “I love you better’n anythang!”

As a side note, here in Appalachia, we call all our female family members ‘sister’. Sometimes we shorten it to sis or sissy but it makes the contacts on my phone confusing.
Is my contact named ‘Sister’ my sister or Caiti or Jamie or Kris? So then who is ‘sissy’?
Does anyone else do this? Or is it just my crazy family?

and um,  that’s day 2!

Much to my girls’ chagrin, I started taking clogging classes with them last week.

Clogging is just something that a girl like me—-who loves all things appalachian—- should be able to do.

And who can resist the temptation when you have the opportunity to embarass your children right good?

I’m completely obsessed.

I’m a clogging fool.

I’ve made myself a student of D Ray White and all manner of homeade you tube clogging videos.

(please watch the whole video but if you’re pressed for time, go to about 3:40 and watch the rest. It’s priceless.
And if Stevie would bring home some plywood from the jobsite, I could just clog in the front yard too.)

Our teacher is absolutely amazing and so is his beautiful Zumba-teaching wife.

As a side note, I took her Zumba class with a bunch of 18 year olds and felt like the chubby girl at the prom trying

to keep up with all the popular girls——but not quite keeping up.   My girls rolled their eyes plenty during that class.

They finally couldn’t take it anymore and left the room.

But clogging?  It’s just in my bones. And goes so well with banjos and fiddles.

Caiti came home last night and we even taught her our little ditty from last week.

High Cotton is our song and who doesn’t love some vintage Alabama?

Speaking of High Cotton,  Stevie felt like he was in high cotton when he finally got to pull his car into the garage.

I can only imagine that it was almost as thrilling as watching me clog this last week.

So there. What have done to embarass your loved ones lately?
xoxo,
edie

p.s. enjoy this video of our clogging teacher Mr. Justin and his wife Tara and their superior clogging skills.
will I be this good next year? one can only hope.