Merry Christmas & Blessed Yule!

Christmas a Longwood Gardens

When I was little, every Christmas Eve day my parents would take me to Longwood Gardens to look at the flowers and the Christmas trees.  I decided to resurrect the tradition by taking Nate to Longwood Gardens today to see their Christmas display.  It was beautiful as always.  When we got home I asked Nate what did he like the best and he said he liked it all the best!

Winter Break

So I am officially on break and I have cleaned out closets, dropped off at Goodwill, cleansed, hung new curtains, baked, cleaned some more, wrapped presents, oy… it never seems to end.  Anyway, I need to take a page from Nate's book and learn to hang out in my PJs a little more.

Around the House

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 30

I am thankful for home.  With the people I love, comfy couches, warm blankets, snuggily puppies and maybe a slice of chocolate pie.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 29

I am thankful for traditions. 

Happy Hanukkah!

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 28

I am thankful for Chocolate pie!  Thanks Mom!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 27

I am thankful for small, niche businesses.  Bog box stores would never carry a bung and an airlock, but the Brew Your Own Beer" store had exactly what I needed with some helpful fermentation advice to go with it.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 26

I am thankful for paid vacation time, comp time, etc!

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 25

I am thankful for modern transportation... ie cars.  I would not be able to cram as much into one day as I do if I had to do it with a horse and buggy.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 24

I am thankful that Starbucks offers a soy milk option.  I have grown rather fond of my daily latte, but am trying to avoid milk until this cold is gone.  The soy milk option makes that possible.  Thanks Starbucks!

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 23

Today I am thankful for salt.  I had no idea that I even liked hard boiled eggs until I put a little salt on one at lunch today. In fact, moments before biting into the egg I though to myself, jeeze, I really don't like hard boiled eggs,but oh well, it's what I got!  Magic I tell you, salt on a hard boiled egg... something to be thankful for.

A Month of gratitude -- Day 22

I am incredibly thankful for a washer and dryer in my house and not having to schlep things to a laundromat.  It makes cleaning up messes that much easier!

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 21

I am thankful for Amazon prime.  Seriously, I can order pretty much anything in existence from my bed and have it delivered to my door in 2 days or less for free.  Sorry but that is really amazing!

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 20

Today I am thankful for paid sick time.  Which in turn means that I am thankful for labor unions who fought for my right to have paid sick time.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 19

Truthfully, today I am thankful that my mother feeds Nate lunch and dinner so that I dont have to pack him a lunch every single, stinking day. Thanks mom!

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 18

Today I am Thankful for unseasonably warm weather... the last I am sure we will see for a long time.

Thinking About Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving is, hands down, my favorite holiday.  It completely gets over shadowed by Halloween and Christmas, but it is still my favorite.

I have been hosting Thanksgiving dinner for 2 years now, this will be the third, and I take pride in the fact that everything is made from scratch.  This year, however is going to be a little different.  For one thing, not only is it Thanks giving, but it is also the first night of Hanukkah, and my birthday.  Something different had to be done, this was no ordinary holiday... this was the holiday trifecta! 

Since it is the holiday trifecta I started joking with my husband that I was going to just order the whole dinner from Whole Foods as a birthday present to myself.  The more I said it however, the better the idea sounded, until he finally said, just order it and I'll pay for it!

Done and done!  With a few modifications...

We will have:

A roasted Turducken (ordered online, cooked by me)
A smoked turkey (fresh from Whole Foods, smoked by Jon)
Mashed potatoes (Whole Foods)
Mashed sweet potatoes (Whole Foods)
Glazed carrots with candied pecans (Whole Foods)
Roasted green beans with shallots (Whole Foods)
Biscuits (Baked by me)
Gravy (Cooked by me)
Potato latkas  (Cooked by me)
Jellied cranberry sauce (From the can)
Whole berry cranberry sauce (From the can)
Creamed onions (Frozen)

More cooking than I had originally anticipated but that's ok... Still less work and cleanup than previous years.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 17

I am thankful to be surrounded by such a wonderful family.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 16

I am thankful for great friends.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 15

I am thankful that today I pushed myself out of my comfort zone.  It turned out to be a great decision and I am really happy I made it.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 14

I am thankful That I have a flexible job and schedule so that I can take advantage of things like parent visitation day at Nate's school

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 13

I am thankful to work in an environment that embraces change.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 11

As today is Veteran's Day, I am incredibly grateful and thankful that there are people who make the courageous choice to put themselves in danger to protect out country and its interests.  Thank you to all who serve!

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 10

I am thankful for indoor plumbing, my washer, and my dryer.  I am incredibly thankful I do not have to beat my clothe on a rock by the river to get them clean.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 9

I am thankful for my husband who watched Nate today while I escaped for a girls-only lunch with an old friend.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 8

I am thankful for labor unions who fought for a 5 day work week so that I can have a weekend to spend with my family.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 7

Today I am thankful that I ear a good salary.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 6

I am grateful for the opportunity to learn new things, increase my skill set, and expand my knowledge of the world around me.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 5

I am grateful to be able to teach my son about the Democratic process and the importance of participating in it.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 4

Today I am thankful that no one can read my mind as pretty much every thought I had was an uncharitable one.

Halloween 2013

Nate didn't really start getting into Halloween until last year when we went out trick-or-treating with friends in their neighborhood.  This wasn't and option for this year, so Jon took Nate out in our neighborhood.  He was not disappointed.

Nate dressed up like a Red Ninja complete with swords and other ninja weapons.

Let the Trick-or-Treating begin!

 

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 3

Today I am thankful for Starbucks.  Shallow?  Yes, but it is cold outside and my grande decaf 2-pump vanilla latte tastes SO good!

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 2

Today I am thankful for mild weather.  Today may have been the last time I could have doors and windows open all day before the spring.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 1

I am thankful for a work schedule with some flexibility to it.

Happy Halloween/Happy Samhain!

Apple Picking

I took a vacation day on Monday to be home for he plumber.  Well, the plumber came earlier than planned and was unable to find any problems, so I was left with good news and an entirely free afternoon.  My mom suggested that we take Nate to our local pumpkin patch, since we hadn't been there yet this season.  While we were there we decided to do some impromptu apple picking.  Nate wasn't thrill at first, but then he really got into it and ended up being a fine apple picker!

I always anticipate that these endeavors will be expensive, but it worked out to $1.25 per pound for the apples, so it was actually cheaper than buying them at the store!

Current Obsessions

TV Shows:

American Horror Story Coven

A Young Doctor's Notebook

Breaking Bad (Why yes I am late to the party)

Food:

Starbucks Pumpkin Scones

Decaf Vanilla Lattes

Stuff:

Sugar Skulls!!!!  as evidenced by my new cup and my new custom painted Toms.