Celebration

Celebration 
Writers' Post #26

There are so many reasons to celebrate in our lives.  We celebrate achievements. We celebrate marriage, birthdays, anniversaries, new babies, job promotions, holidays and the list goes on and on, doesn't it?  We celebrate with the appropriate people for each occasion and share the delight of whatever has happened.  Ever notice how often wine or spirits are part of celebrations?  Wonder why that is?  I also wonder why we so often eat as part of a celebration.  In fact, some celebrations are more about the food than they are about the accomplishment or good news or whatever.  


I love a good celebration!  Let me say that right up front, I am a celebratin' kind of girl.  I am such a partier, I don't even need to have a real reason to celebrate.  I think life is reason enough.  I also think friends are reason enough.  Got friends from out of town coming over?  Have a party! Celebrate and do it up good.  And cook something to share.  Maybe the guests favorite food, or something traditional for the season or something you know you make really well.  Good food, good friends and you've got a party.  Maybe a good bottle of wine or a good case of beer will round out your plan.  Gotta love a party.


Around here, summer equals party time.  We love to throw a party or 10 during the summer months.  We have sufficient outdoor space and I love making food for guests and of course, I love having friends over anytime.  I like to share my current favorite wine with anyone who might like to try it and we always have a large supply of beer and soda pops of various types.  I don't need an occasion to throw a celebratory get together between May and October.  


Now of course, we are entering the Christmas celebration period and I used to love this time of year the most.  I always looked forward to the big family gatherings and food of all sorts all day or week-end long.  Plenty of egg nog for those who enjoy the holiday treat and plenty of coffee, tea or beer or wine for the others.  A little Bailey's in that nog is amazingly festive!


The little ones always love the baked treats that seemed to magically appear for them at every Christmas or Thanksgiving get together.  (Magically, after G-ma had stood in the kitchen for 3 days non-stop mixing, dropping and baking cookies by the hundreds until a thousand or 2 appeared on platters for them to eat here and in boxes for them to take home. )  I always loved watching them play with each other and us while on their sugar highs!


Christmas celebrations are so much more fun with the kids around!  I love that part. I also love the cooking, the visiting and the nog with Baileys!  Momma and I start enjoying that every Christmas Eve upon returning from my sister's delicious dinner.  We have just one or two to 'take the edge off' so we can get a good night's sleep.  (That's our story and we're stickin' to it!)
Roomy started buying us a bottle years ago and that tradition is still alive and well.  She will spend the night with us and stay all day Christmas until dinner is done and cleared.  Our Christmas morning is just the three of us and then we wait until whoever is coming over gets here.  There will be a nice breakfast, gifts exchanged and no doubt, a nap!  


Celebrate each in your own way, but maybe take a few minutes to remember that the birth of Jesus is the reason for this celebration.  Maybe just a  moment at some point during the day you could just bow your head and whisper a thank you and happy birthday.  


And the next day...if you have a minute, do the same thing.  Oh, but this time, you can add "to Jo" at the end!   LOL


Merry Christmas all and to all.....you know the rest!


Jo

Tasty Tuesday

Tasty Tuesday
Honey~Mustard Meatballs

1.5 # ground chuck
1 cup bread crumbs
3 cloves grated garlic
2 eggs
2 Tbsp yellow or brown mustard
1 Tbsp honey
salt & pepper to taste
a few shakes of onion powder, about 2 Tbsp or so


Mix together and scoop with ice cream scoop onto a foil line baking sheet.  Makes 12 big meatballs. If you want to make smaller ones, be sure to watch your baking time.


Bake at 350* for 45 minutes.




Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce


1/4 Cup Mustard
1/4 Cup Mayo
1/8 Cup Honey (I just drizzle it over the mixture until it's covered)


Mix thoroughly and serve with the meatballs after topping each one to serve.




This was dinner tonight and we really liked it.


Hope you do, too!


Jo

My Favorite Things

My Favorite Things
BFF #147


My favorite things is an easy topic for me because I don't really have a lot of things that could fall in this list, but there are many things in my life that I would miss so much if they were to suddenly become unavailable.


I have written much on the people in my life that would be my favorite so I'm not going there on this one.  I'm gonna talk actual "things" like stuff.


Number one on my list of favorite things is good, rich, dark coffee.  Therefore, I must have my Keurig coffee maker.  I am on my second one in as many years and they are expensive, but I really don't care.  I have never had better and fresher coffee ever from any other coffee maker and I am passionate about my coffee.  I bought a model two steps up with my second Keurig.  The first one was a simpler, 2 cup choices and smaller water reservoir model.  It was nice, but I wore it out in just over a year.  The current one offers 5 cup sizes including travel mug size, love that.  It also has a 64 oz. reservoir, which allows me to make 4 big mugs of coffee before refilling.  That's 4 giant cups of deliciously perfect coffee!  So good and so easy and so fast and I so love this coffee maker.  I will not be without something like this in my future.  As they invent bigger or faster or better, I'll likely go to one of those, but right now, I own the absolute Cadillac of coffee makers.


Second on my list would be this laptop.  Now, I do love my desktop and I do most of my novel writing, editing etc. on that one, but this laptop is making blogging so easy, so convenient and I can sit here in my recliner, dog by my legs laptop on the arm and my knee and just go crazy!  Love it!  I can check FB all day long without going into the office and sitting down, booting up and then checking emails and FB.  I just sit down, pick up the laptop, hit a key and I'm in!  Awesome!  Never really used the other laptop I had much because it was very heavy and very HOT on my knee!  This one is much cooler and weighs like 2 pounds, I think.


Third would be my pool.  I have owned it since we bought this house in 1999.  It has been the source of some serious stress and a lot of happy, carefree hours as well.  There is nothing I enjoy more than laying by the pool reading or floating around on the water soaking up sun.  Swimming is my favorite sport and I seldom miss a day in the pool in season.  We put a heater in a few years back because I really don't like cold water and since that addition, I have really loved my pool.  I would miss having one now if we moved and didn't have one available.  It is most definitely a luxury, but one I would like to have from here on.


Speaking of the pool...(I can't even believe I am adding this to my list because I never, ever wanted one of these, but now that I have it, I don't want to be without one again) my Kindle.  I couldn't imagine why anyone would want one of those.  I love books.  The feel, the smell, the page turning, the experience of reading a book would be gone with one of those crazy things.  I am a techie, I want the fastest phone, computer, gps.  I want the latest whatever is out, but an e-reader?  Why would anyone want to upgrade from a classic book?  I got one as a gift.  I was NOT gracious when I opened it.  I am quite ashamed about my instant reaction, but I will tell you a bit about how awful I was.  I had stated just a few weeks prior, to the gift giver that I didn't like anything about e-readers.  Didn't have even the slightest interest in owning one.  I love books.  Period.  Then I open my own new Kindle being given to me by two families, whom I love, with the lighted leather cover and a big ole gift certificate to get me started.  Oh dear.  Did I just smile and say "Thank you" as I had always instructed my children to do?  Nope.  I looked the giver right in the eye and said, "You've got to be kidding me! Do you NOT listen to anything I say to you?  Did we not just have a conversation about how I do NOT want one of these?"  Oh, yeah.  I said that and maybe more.  I was horrid.  He was gracious, as he was taught.  He said, "I know you think that, I did, too until I got one.  I just want you to check it out and then you can return it if you really don't like it.  I know you think they are stupid, but that's because you haven't actually tried one, yet.  Just set it up and read a book."  


I don't know where exactly it went from there, but I did recover a little bit and told him that I would do that, but to please not be upset when I returned it because, seriously I LOVE BOOKS!  


Besides me being an ass, ruining Christmas and hurting my child's feelings, the rest of the day went fairly well.  I put the Kindle back in the box and dreaded having to even mess with it, but I promised and he seemed so invested in me liking this damned thing...


The Kindle didn't really get used until March.  We went on vacation and I loaded up the Kindle with books and went on a 3 week road trip.  I read those 4 books I had loaded and bought several more.  I was never without something to read and I didn't have a trail of paperbacks left at motels across the country.  I was beginning to think this wasn't so awful.  I especially liked never being without a book! No browsing a book store, just browsing a list.  Clickity click, I bought a book!  By the end of summer I had put a lot of hours on my Kindle.  I have not held a book since March.  I really love my Kindle and have told the givers many times that they were right and their Mother is a jerk!  I don't want to be without my Kindle.


Last on my list of things....my bed.  It's just right.  Not too firm, not too soft.  When I lay down, it is cool and warms within a few minutes. There is quite a difference in my size and my roomy's size and in our previous bed, if he moved, I moved by default.  Not so with this one; we don't disturb each other with movement. (Like the bowling ball being dropped on a bed in that old commercial!) It is big and just perfectly perfect.  I love my bed and don't look forward to when I have to purchase another mattress.  First because they cost a fortune and second because I'm afraid I'll never get another perfect one.


I thought about listing my furbabies, but they are NOT things.  They are furpeople and actually I belong to them, so no.  


Jo

Once Upon a Christmas

Once Upon a Christmas
BFF #146


Once upon a Christmas, it was 1999 actually, everything was exactly what Christmas should be.  In my head, Christmas is family and food and gifts and more love in one house than you can imagine.  In 1999, I had just such a Christmas. A perfect Christmas day.


In January of '99 we bought this smaller house out in the country a couple of miles from town.  It was half the size of the home where we raised our kids.  We were settling into our new home with thoughts of retiring and enjoying life in the country on our 3 acres.  


In September of '99 one of our sons got married in Jamaica.  They had a reception in October and we combined that week-end with a baby shower for our daughter who was due in November with her first child.


In November we welcomed our granddaughter and because they live in Tennessee, we were very excited that our daughter and her brand spankin' new daughter would be coming home for several days at Thanksgiving.  What a treat!


In December the girls made the trip again, this time with Daddy and we would all be together for Christmas at our new home.  All three of our sons would be there.  Two of them would be bringing their wives, one had an eleven year old daughter who would also be coming and the youngest son would be bringing his girlfriend.  Momma would be staying the week-end with us, as well. 


I remember the day as if it were a few weeks ago.  (That is amazing because I remember very little these days.)  But that Christmas day was what I see as perfection.  


I made breakfast for everyone who woke up in our house that morning and we opened our gifts from each other.  That would be daughter, baby, baby-daddy, Momma, my roomy and me.  After we cleaned up the kitchen from breakfast I started to prepare things for dinner.  We were expecting everyone sometime in the afternoon and assumed they would be staying well into the evening.  Based on that, we planned a mid-afternoon meal that could be warmed or eaten cold as the evening wore on and hunger set in.  These boys can eat!  I had lots of baby time between cooking chores and my daughter was a huge help with the set up downstairs.  In fact, she and my roomy did all the set up.  I rocked, fed and cooked.  Momma kept me company in the kitchen and took her turns holding and rocking.  I was loving every minute.


The boys arrived one family at a time.  The newlyweds being the last to arrive.  We ate and 
exchanged more gifts and we laughed and played pass the baby and laughed more.  There was nothing about this day that I would have changed.  It was all of my kids with their significant others and my mom and my man~ all in my house basically all day.  The very best Christmas day I had ever had or have had since.


I cannot explain with simple words what having all of the kids here means to me.  It isn't just that I want to see them all.  Now that they all have kids,  it's even more precious to me to have them all here.  It is also very rare.  The cousins very seldom all get together because everyone is so busy and has so many obligations that they just don't all come for anything any more.  Someone is always missing now.  Two of our kids live in Tennessee and they sometimes just can't get away long enough to make the trip.  One son is so busy with his farm, job, horses, 3 daughters and life in general that he seldom makes any of the family gatherings.  The other son is always here, I don't recall any gathering he has missed.  One granddaughter is married and she seldom comes, but did come for Thanksgiving this year and it was wonderful to have her and her roomy with us again. I really miss the simpler days, when family mattered to all of us more than almost anything else.


I am so grateful that I have that Christmas to remember.  I will not get another one like that~ more than likely.  Times have changed and priorities have changed and I just have to accept that that was probably the last perfect Christmas day I will have.


Oh, let me tell you what the next day brought.  I turned 50 on December 26, 1999 and my roomy and my daughter gave me an almost surprise birthday party!  I was surprised, not about the party because they told me the day before, but by the number of friends and family who actually came out the day after Christmas for a birthday party.  It was truly humbling for me.  It was a great party and I totally loved it.  The same kids, minus one son and family, returned for the party also.  The one son who couldn't come was working.  


Two fabulous days in a row.  I will always remember Christmas of 1999 because that is what Christmas should be; not only for me, but for all 9 of our grandchildren to be able to bond and just get to know each other for a short time, at least.  It should be a time for everyone to give their Grandmother a little respect and a small amount of their time.  It should be a time to share food, love and laughter.  It should be family time.  But it isn't anymore.


And once upon a Christmas I had it all.  I am so thankful.


Jo

Truth

Truth
GBE2 #29


I don't believe there is any one character flaw that will end a friendship with me more quickly than the inability to tell the truth.  I don't care that you tell me a funny or silly story of something from your life and embellish it a bit, that's just fun and entertaining.  If, however, you tell me an out and out lie to protect me, to protect someone else or just because you don't know the difference between the truth and a lie, I'm more than likely not going to be around to hear the next story you want to tell.  If you tell me a lie because you want me to believe something that isn't true, all I can say is that I don't play like that.


I appreciate honesty.  I appreciate people who just look me in the eye and say, "I am not impressed with that."  Assuming I did something with which they found fault.  I say, "Just tell me.  I will never know what you like and don't like, if you don't tell me."  I find lots of kind ways to say that I don't care for something.  It is a bit of an effort to be honest and not cause undue hurt feelings, but still and all, I find it so much more helpful in my life to deal with people who can just tell the truth.  That being said, there is no need to be mean or hurtful when doing so.  Just because you may have done something I don't like does not mean I don't like you.  It is also not an excuse for me to just be blatantly mean or hateful.  I could just simply say, "I really think what you did was atupid uncalled for."  There will probably be a conversation following, then it is even more important to be kind.  Be honest, but do so kindly.


There was a time when I sort of forgot that important thing about being honest and kind.  I didn't mean to be unkind, honestly, but I didn't engage my filter, I just spoke immediately.  I will tell the story one day, but not today.  It's not a pretty story.  It's one of my most immature and embarrassing adult stories and naturally, it involved my children.  *Hiding my face now.*  Another blog, another day.


What I would like to see more of and don't see enough of ever, is people living honestly.  I mean living the life which exudes who they are.  Doing things that make you smile, make you feel fulfilled or just plain need to be done and you are the one who needs to do those things and doing them with a positive attitude.  Doing things because that is your job. Doing things because they are the right thing.  Living to your potential and giving to your limit.  Giving of yourself until you are just exhausted.  That is good, honest living.


It is also good honest living to sit back every now and then and appreciate what is all around you. Not only the people, but also what nature has provided outside your windows and what you have provided inside your windows.  People say all the time that they don't need things, they just need people.  I need both.  I'm not ashamed to say that I love my home.  I love most of the things with which we have filled our home.  I am very comfortable here.  I'm at home here and my soul is settled here.  My heart smiles here.  I'm honestly living the life I have always hoped to be able to live one day.  (A few things are yet to come, but for the most part.) 


If I were to be totally honest, (I think I will, for a change of pace) I would admit that I would like my children and their children around me more often. If I could, I would make all of them move to within a couple of miles of us so we could just stop in whenever and the kids could just hang with us for a few hours whenever.  I, quite honestly would be on cloud 9 if that were to happen, but I am okay with knowing they all care about us and enjoy being with us from time to time.  I don't suppose I would ever think they spent enough time with us, after all we sacrificed to get those people raised up to be decent humans!  (Kidding, a little.)  Maybe I wouldn't appreciate them so much if they were all around all the time.  I'd like to find out, I think.




Truth, I believe, always comes out eventually. Sometimes with a little help from your friends and sometimes with a slip of your own tongue, but always with more pain than if it had been told in the first place.  Protecting someone by not being truthful is rarely, if ever, the answer.


In the end, the truth does set you free.


Jo

Innocence

Innocence
Writers' Post #25

The days of innocence are not carefree. I,of course, mean that just because one has not experienced something doesn't mean one doesn't worry about what if, when, where or how that something might occur.

Before the first date, for example, one would be completely innocent.  One would not be carefree, however. This is a time when a person imagines all sorts of outcomes and all manner of horrid things that could go wrong as well as all kinds of wonderful things that might happen.  It's the innocence that makes the unknown kind of exciting and at the same time frightful. Once the first date is history, there is a certain loss of innocence.

The first job interview is another fine example of how innocence is a double edged sword.  The inexperience is obvious to the interviewer and that can be refreshing.  It can also be off-putting.  If the job requires some amount of professionalism and it is clear during the interview process this is going to be the first job, it might well be an uphill climb for the innocent.  On the other hand, if a fresh outlook is helpful and on-the-job training is offered, the innocent may breeze through thoroughly in the favor of the questioner.  Once the interview is over, the innocent is somewhat seasoned and will not enter the next interview quite so wide-eyed.

So many of life's adventures can only be done innocently one time.  After the initial experience, it's different.  Usually better with some history, but different either way.  I think this is true with almost everything, well, except death.  That we do only once, usually.  Though there are many who have 'died' and been resuscitated, making death a multiple experience for them.  I imagine the fear of all things death related dissipates after that. It is the one thing in our lives about which we all have our own private and innocent thoughts.

For me, personally, there aren't many things I can think of that I could innocently undertake. I have done most of the things I want to do with the years I have left here.  Oh, I have many things I want to do again, but there's not much that would be a new experience in my future, I don't believe.  The only place where I really possess innocence is aging.  I am doing that daily and never having been this old before, it's unknown territory for me.  I innocently lunge forward through my golden years wide eyed and excited to see what's next.

Innocence is mostly for the young and I sure had my time of innocently jumping into things to qualify me for adulthood.  I imagine some of those things could be considered stupid and most assuredly ill-advised, but how would I have known that, exactly without trying.   Once I reached the age of adulthood, according to the law and most of the population, around 21, I had already married and given birth to two babies. I had a lot of innocence left in me at that point, but I also had a good deal of experience.  My twenties were learning years, to say the least.  I had jumped head long into adulthood and then innocently started experiencing life in the real world.

Innocence=lack of living.  Nothing mysterious about it.  As you live, you lose innocence.  As you lose innocence, you gain confidence and history gives you wisdom.  The circle of life.

Jo

All I Want For Christmas 2011

All I Want For Christmas 2011
BFF 145

I want my kids (and their kids) to be healthy, happy and laughing.  
I want my Momma to feel wanted, loved and needed.  
I want my roomy to feel like he will always have his best bud near  by. (me)
I want my siblings to be with their kids and feel the pride of their live's work.


I want every service woman and man to feel and know that they are appreciated, thought of, prayed for and thanked every moment of their lives.  
I want them to all have peace time duty from here on.
I want every heart that isn't at peace to calm itself and be wrapped in love.  


I want every living being who is missing one who has gone before to feel the presence and love of that one who has passed in their hearts.  The warmth of the missing love all around them.
I want every baby, every child to have a holiday with food and at least one small gift just for fun.
I want homelessness to be a choice, not a matter of no other choice.
I want every person who is unemployed to have an offer for employment.


None of these need be gift wrapped and none of these need be for just one day, but one day would be a start.


In a perfect world, I would also love to have all my kids and their kids at my house Christmas afternoon and into the evening, like we used to do.  But that is then and this is now.  


Dear Santa,
My wish list is a long one and none of my wishes are tangible.  I will be praying for each of these things and just wanted to let you in on my list so that you don't waste a moment of your magical night's time stopping by our house.  We will be fine without any material gifts this year because we are old people who have accumulated far too many of them already.  What I really want this year is for you to dig deep in your elfin chests and find a few extra somethings for a lot of children who should awaken to something on their Christmas morning.  I believe you can do this with the help of many of your elves and helpers.  I am volunteering as one of those helpers and will be placing a few toys in a few boxes which your other helpers (the Marines) have set up around the shopping areas.  They are very good helpers.


Merry Christmas, Santa and happy flying.  :)


Your Helper,
Jo