New Years Eve | An Anniversary

Carole and Kat's prompt was how we felt about New Year's Eve.  Based on other posters I think we all agree that when we were young we enjoyed the party-stay up all night styled NYE, but then as we get older we are very happy to stay in and probably going to bed early.  The above photo was taken at the Fairbanks House in Amelia Island [Fernandina Beach] FL.  The long weekend was a gift from my in-laws for our 25th anniversary which was in May.  It was a wonderful weekend, and we ate lots of amazing food.  It was totally blog worthy, but alas I am again late for that train.  This post isn't about our 25th anniversary, but rather our first date which was on New Year's Eve 1989!  I remember it like it was yesterday, we had prime rib at Houston's, and went to watch the peach drop at Underground Atlanta.  It was the first year of the peach drop, and the last time we went.  So on the one hand yes, I love NYE because it commemorates a special day.  However, I don't like NYE because Steve has worked every one since our first date; that's what happens when you are a police officer.  This year will be no different, but we are on the count down to retirement, so hopefully we can plan something really fun to commemorate what will be the 30th anniversary of our first date!  This year as in years past, there will be snacks and prosecco and I will do my best to stay up to see the new year roll in.  Since I have family in England and Australia, I try to watch the new year roll in from around the world.  I used to enjoy watching Dick Clark's Rocking New Year show, but since he's gone it's just not the same.  Hopefully Steve will be home in time to have a kiss and a celebratory drink, but with the Peach Bowl on Saturday, and the Falcons playing the Saints on Sunday-well let's just say downtown Atlanta is going to be a VERY interesting place this weekend.  I  Andrew will be home for a few more days, so we'll celebrate and watch football together.  I really want to savor this time together.  He got me a Clemson t-shirt for Christmas so I can show a little team spirit, although, quite honestly I don't know if I can watch this match up with Ohio State.  Thank goodness there will be plenty of knitting, and I'm looking forward to a 3 day weekend to celebrate, and also get ready for the new year.  Perhaps I'll get in gear and be more present on my blog than I have been this past year.  In the mean time, I'm wishing you all a very happy, prosperous and healthy new year.

Weekending| Solitude [almost]

This weekend presented an opportunity to get lots done, and also a chance to re-charge before the holidays are in full swing.  Saturday started with real breakfast for Steve and I and getting organized. It was a full day of errands and test driving a car-not sure if this is THE one, but it was a lot of fun to drive and despite the 46 degrees we drove it with the top down and the heat up!  The designing of convertibles now really keep the wind off, and no wind noise.  Of course, the Audi is a little more practical [if a convertible can actually be practical!] than this one I'm considering!  That evening we went to see the next play in the series at Stage Door Players-note to self-do not go to the 8pm show unless you get to have a nap. I started to doze on Steve's shoulder after intermission because it was getting past my bedtime, and it was not because the play was boring!

While I was zipping around town Steve got our tree and put lights on the balcony. [yea! lights outside].  On Sunday I pulled out a few things to have around the apartment, but most things are going back into the garage as we just don't have the space to go all out with decorations.

Steve had to work Sunday and meet up with someone afterwards, so he didn't get home until way late.  I was looking forward to a productive day, and it certainly was- I did some tidying up, laundry, made my shopping list for Christmas meals, addressed Christmas cards, got Monday night's dinner together, prepped my dishes for the office lunch [also known as the day Lydia gets to order everyone around] and my book club pot luck both of which are on Tuesday.  Clearly poor planning on my part as I set the day of the office lunch!  Sophie got a good brushing [which she didn't really enjoy], and then we took a nap since we had a 90 minute walk that morning!  I have to be ready for the last episode for this season of the Walking Dead [I know so holiday-y].  What I really loved about having the apartment to myself on Sunday was that I put on Pandora as soon as I got back from walking Sophie, and listened to Holiday music ALL DAY!  Yep, the TV didn't come on until around 5ish when I checked on the Falcons vs Rams game.  I didn't even log onto my Fantasy Football league to see how I was doing in the playoffs-well let's just say it's no competition when all but one of your top players had to be replaced with not so good players.  Only teams who are good should be in the playoffs [I know, this isn't real football, but still].  It was tranquil and refreshing day, I hope this energizes me to tackle the clearing out of the closet and other organizing I really need to do over the next couple weeks.  I have plans to leave work early on Thursday to finish my shopping, and if all goes well, when I get home I will be DONE-DONE.  I'll just need to get things wrapped, but that's not the hard part.  There is lots I'm looking forward to- including getting together with "the girls" on Sunday, lunch with my quilting friends, and Andrew coming home for a few weeks.  I'm glad I had Sunday to slow down a bit because I've got 4 kinds of cookies to make, a huge pan of stuffing and a "quiche" for Tuesday night's dinner, and work so no time for a nap!

Traditions-it's about the food [mostly]

As usual I'm a bit late to the party.  Carole has had some great Think Write Thursday topics, so I think it's about time I did at least one post.  Favorite traditions.

Growing up the holidays never were about making the time special for us [my brother and I].  My parents split up when I was very young [4 years old], and I only have a few Christmas photos. Christmas break usually meant extended with my dad and brother.  I can't recall a single "thing" we did together except for when we visited my dad's parents, usually Christmas Day.  I didn't get to help decorate the tree because my older step-sister was "so much better at it", but I was sure good at taking it down- go figure.   I went to live with my dad and stepmother when I was about 10, and didn't see my mother for probably about 3 or so years.  I don't recall baking cookies for friends or neighbors, special programs at church, listening to Christmas music, and I don't think we even sent out cards.  We did visit with my dad's family, he had 3 sisters and 1 brother, so we'd all gather at my grandmother's house for a big dinner and a gift exchange.  It was a lot of fun seeing my cousins and the food was always good.  Having traditions is very important to me, and have come to include the baking of cookies [one year I made 17 different kinds] and sending out cards.  I've always cooked a big "English" dinner Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day included potato sausage and scrambled eggs for breakfast, and snacks/leftovers for the rest of the day, and opening gifts.  I'm still working on traditions that are more mine; the boys were rarely on board with anything I wanted to do, and honestly, it's not near as much fun doing everything solo.  This year I'm going to be adventurous and we're having a Feast of Seven Fishes for Christmas Eve-we'll start with "brunch" at my Mom's and work our way through some dishes I found on-line today. I'm following the advise I found to keep the dishes simple and small.  We'll see how it goes, and I'm hoping Andrew will put his culinary skills to use so we can pull this off!  We're sticking with the potato sausage and scrambled eggs, but Christmas Day dinner will be Beef Wellington [with a mushroom duxelles instead of a  pate.  My list includes a lot of ingredients, so now I've got to come up with a shopping list and a timeline for making all this happen.  One tradition that I haven't done in a while is riding around town looking at Christmas lights.  Now that we are in a different part of Atlanta, I'm hoping to do that this week with Sophie.  She loves to be in the car and I really love all the lights-so magical.  Maybe I'll get myself in gear and blog about this adventure-we'll see!

TWT- Those Who Influence

I missed last week's prompt about an abandoned building, but there is one near us that I fear will be torn down soon rather than be restored.  I really wish it could be re-purposed somehow, but the link is here if you are interested.  However, I really wanted to weigh in on this week's prompt about a teacher that influenced us the most.  The photo is of my elementary school in Roswell, while much has changed-there is much that remains the same about the building.  It's still in use, but not as a regular school.  I think it is very cool that I went to the same school as my dad and his siblings. Roswell, GA was very small back then!

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, I have had a lot of teachers that had some influence on me, but I have to say was the librarian, Mrs. Lunsford, at Roswell Elementary probably has the biggest.  She fed my desire to read and learn by discovery.  She created the Thinking Cap Club when I was in the 2nd grade and we did lots of cool stuff around town.  I remember one of the local weather guys coming for a visit- Guy Sharp, and we also visited the home of former president Jimmy Carter's Aunt Sissy who lived just down the street from the school. Those were fun times indeed.  I look forward to hearing what others have to say about who influenced them.

Weekending

My weekend began on Thursday afternoon, and I had lots of wonderful things planned.  After I picked Sophie up from the groomer, I headed home and took a quick nap before my sister in law Karen came by so we could go to the Georgia Tech vs Clemson game.  Let's just say that the company, food and margarita's at Escorpion was much better than the game itself!

Friday morning I met Mary at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens to see the Chihuily exhibit.  It was wonderful.  We spent almost 2 hours at the exhibit and then walked towards midtown Atlanta and enjoyed a delicious lunch and bottle of wine at Cafe Intermezzo-spinach/artichoke crepe and a hummus platter-so good!  I think we spent almost as much time at lunch as we did at the garden talking about everything from politics/religion [just a bit], recently read books, book club dilemmas, our Alaska trip next summer, knitting, etc.  I can't think of a better way to spend the day.

It's these times that remind me how blessed I am to have these wonderful women in my life.
I was thrilled to ride my bike both Saturday AND Sunday-I always start out wondering what in the world am I doing! However, when I'm done I feel sooooo good [and sweaty!].  I was also excited that I didn't have anything else on my calendar for Saturday.  That was my day to do some cooking and get ready for the next week.  I started The Japanese Lover by Isabelle Allende for book club, Still Life by Louise Penny [in my ears], and finished The Secret Place by Tana French.  I enjoyed the Tana French book, but wonder if the author's voice of teenage girls in 2014 is for real-it sounded a bit too 1980s for me.  Saturday also included ALOT of college football, and we actually watched some really good games.  I managed to finish the last square for my Kaffe Fassette Knit Along afghan!  Now I have to block and seam the afghan together ;-P.  I'm not putting any deadlines on myself for this one.

Sunday afternoon included a matinee at our local community theatre-Stage Door Players.  This was our third show, and the first as season ticket holders.  We saw an adaptation of Barefoot in the Park, and it was excellent.  The weekend wrapped up with professional food ball, snacks and then bbq tenderloin for dinner.  I'm still doing really well in Fantasy Football-can't wait to see the results after tonight's game.  Now to decide which train wreck to watch tonight- the debate or the Atlanta/Saints game.  I know I'll be starting with the season premiere of the Big Bang Theory, and I might have to retreat to the bedroom to continue reading another new book Blind Sight by Carol O'Connell.  This is one of mine and my boss's favorite authors and she doesn't have books published very often.  He's already finished it, so I'm dying to find out how this book ends!  Hope you had a wonderful weekend, and that your week is filled with lots of good stuff.

I'm ready for some Football

While it doesn't feel like fall [at least in Georgia], the sports calendar certainly says it is cause there is football at all levels now.  I'm in second place [Team Poodle Power] in the office Fantasy Football league.  There are only 2 of us girls in the league and Lindsay is in first place [ahead of me by 11 points].  I'm beginning to like this whole fantasy football thing!  Carole's prompt is about football food.  I can get into serious trouble with this one cause there are so many good options, but they aren't necessarily good for you!  Here's my list.

10:  Chili-red, white, vegetarian.  I like em all
 9.   Gumbo-I made a pot Sunday using this recipe and it's the best one yet.
 8.   Nachos-anyway you top them as long as there is some cheese I'm good.
 7.   Veggies and hummus or other bean dips.
 6.    Potato chips and dip-especially if they are both homemade.
 5.    Antipasti type platters and some good bread and apples.
 4.    Cold beer-not a food-but goes hand in hand with football.
 3.    Muffaletta sandwiches-mine usually don't have the mortadella or salami, but I love the olive salad combined with the bread and cheese.
 2.    Cupcakes and red wine-not necessarily together, but anytime is a good time for cupcakes and they are so handy if you are tailgating, and red wine is a must during the fall.
 1.    Nuts and Bolts-a snack mix that our family has enjoyed for years, it's really hard to resist. What's not to love about chex mix, peanuts, and pretzels with just a bit of seasoning?!

I know there will be some great favorites posted, maybe I'll get a new idea or 2

BINGO!

I tried this last year, but only managed about half of the books.  This year I was so excited to finish all 25 right before Labor Day!  My primary criteria was to purchase as few books as possible and I only bought one.  I borrowed a couple from my mother in law, a bunch from the library, and I had a few on my bookshelf.    This is such a neat challenge I hope someone will do something similar next year not that Books on the Night Stand is no longer podcasting.  Here are my books-I included a little bit about them without doing a full fledge recap of the stories.

Young Adult Novel The Paul Street Boys-Ferenc Molnar just okay-this book is a Hungarian translation written during the early 1900s.  It was supposedly critically acclaimed, but I think something was lost in the translation or the time period.

Epistolary Novel The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society-Mary Ann Shaffer really enjoyed this book-such a fun bunch of characters

A Play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof-Tennessee Williams I think I need to actually see this to appreciate it.  I’ve never read anything by Tennessee Williams so I’m glad to add him to my list of authors.

That You Can Finish in One Sitting/Day Sula-Toni Morrison an interesting story, I really didn’t like Sula at the end of the story.

By or about a Celebrity Shop Girl- Steve Martin very good a fun read-who knew Steve Martin was so versatile!

A Newbery or Caldecott Winner-A Gathering of Days-A New England Girl’s Journal, 1830-32 Joan Bloss-this was written in the format of journal entries by a girl in 1800s Massachusetts.  I’m a sucker for anything that is historical.

By an author whose last name begins with X, Y, or Z I am Malala-Malal Yousafzai true story about life as a girl in Afghanistan. Makes me appreciate that I live in America.

With an Alliterative Title Love Letters Debbie Macomber- A typical Debbie Macomber novel with a happy ending.

Set during a War or Conflict All the Light That We Do Not See Anthony Doerr-loved this book-I was really hoping that some things would have turned out differently.

A Classic Mystery   Death in the Stocks-Georgette Heyer I think Agatha Christie is a much better author.  There was some dialogue that made the characters appear to be shallow and insipid.  Perhaps that is in keeping with the time period of the writing.  I might give this author another try as I’m a big fan of Dorothy Sayer and Agatha Christie maybe this one was a dud.

Told by a Child Narrator Lovely Bones-Alice Sebold Loved this-even though it is a sad story, I was captivated until the very end.  I wish the bad guy had been caught, but the icicle was pretty clever.

Set in Australia/Oceania Big Little Lies-Liane Morarity Liked this book better than The Husband’s Secret.  This was an audio book, and while it took me a bit to warm up to the sound of the narrator’s voice.  The narrator was one of the reasons why I didn’t like The Husband’s Secret it; however, she does a fantastic job of bringing the kids in this book to life.  I chuckled out loud lots of times.  I also think the overall plot of this book was better than The Husbands Secret

Free Square Tempting Fate-Jane Green another just okay, this book has a similar to plot Love Letters.  A much different ending from Love Letters which I didn’t find plausible.

About Art or An Artist The Painted Kiss-Elizabeth Hickey great book about an Austrian artist and some of his well-known paintings.  I plan to look into more books by this author.

Written by Two or More Authors Mycroft Holmes-Kareem ABudl-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse-this was another great book.  I have to say I kept visualizing Benedict Cumberbatch as Mycroft vs Sherlock.

That Spans Multiple Generations The Family Corleone-Edward Flaco and Mario Puzo this was pretty good.  Having been familiar with The Godfather, I sorta knew what was going to happen.  The alliances and loyalties were interesting to read.

Popular Psychology Girl Interrupted-Susanna Kaysen wow-I’m glad we know a lot more about mental health than we did back in the day.

Published the Year You Were Born A Small Town in Germany-John Le Carre-good spy book.  I’ve noticed a distinct writing style with books that were written 40+ year ago.  I really had to read this one to keep up with the players.

A Short Story Anthology Runaway-Alice Munro I’ve read Alice Munro before and I don’t quite get her short stories.

About an Epic Journey In the Heart of the Sea-Nathaniel Philbuck loved this, there were some grisly parts as it goes into detail about the whaling industry in the 18/19^th century, but I learned a lot about the whale ship Essex.  I even looked up more details after I was finished.

Set in the Place Where you Live Peachtree Road-Anne River Siddons I loved reading about my hometown, the time line was a bit confusing because some of the landmarks mentioned were not in existence at the time of the character setting. 

Fiction set during a Plague In the Shadow of Blackbirds-Cat Winters this was pretty good and it was interesting to learn about the flu epidemic and some of the “cures”.

With a Day of the Week in the Title Tuesdays with Morrie-Mitch Albom-this was really good.  The character Morrie reminded me so much of PJ and the man he would have been.   This is a book I’d definitely re-read at some point.

 With a Number in the Title Station Eleven-Emily St. John Mandel-this was pretty good for a post-apocalyptic world plot.  I was afraid it would be too sci-fi-y, but it wasn’t I enjoyed reading how the survivors were able to rebuild the world.

By an Author Who Shares your First Name How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky Lydia Netzer this book was pretty hoakie, maybe it was just me.  Star crossed lovers, destiny, etc. or maybe the narrator’s voice just annoyed me.