Holiday traffic

The first hour we went 16 miles (we were stuck behind an overly cautious driver and then sat on this highway). It was snowing and there were a few accidents on #91. My friend was nervous that I got out of the car to take this picture but I wasn't. Nobody was moving. It took us 4 1/2 hours to get home (150 miles). If you do the math, it was an extra 2 hours.

Live nativity

Friday night my friends and I drove to the Joseph Smith Birthplace in Sharon, Vermont for the live nativity. We got there early (my bad) so we watched the Joseph Smith movie and two of my friends were angels in the pageant! After the pageant they turn on thousands of lights. It was a magical evening.

Ahhhh Vermont

Grafton in photos (warning: lots of red!)

Grafton, VT 05146

My Thanksgiving view

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A Thanksgiving memory

I usually spend Thanksgiving at the LaPierres (this year I’m going away…details to follow) and there is always a big noisy fun crowd!  I always take rolls, my raspberry-cranberry jell-O and a game.  One year, about ten years ago, before dinner, a little three-year-old  boy went from appetizer to appetizer, sampling them all—cheese, crackers, olives, celery, carrots, pickles, dip…well, you get the picture.  As I watched him I kept thinking I think he’s had enough of that not-really-three-year-old food.  And I was right.  We had the blessing.  We lined up to get our food.  We crowded around the tables in the dining room (all thirty of us) to enjoy a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with friends.  I looked over and the little boy was filling his Thanksgiving plate with vomit!   

I yelled, “HAPPY THANKGIVING EVERYONE!!!”

Photo taken this morning at Wilson Farms, Lexington.

Thanksgiving traditions

One Thanksgiving holiday my mom took two of us ("the reds") to Sacramento to visit her cousin and our SLC grandparents who were visiting her, and my dad stayed home with the other two kids. I remember getting a phone call on Thanksgiving day while at Cousin Isabelle's house and it was my dad and brothers calling from DISNEYLAND! They went to Disneyland without us--on Thanksgiving Day! And, they said it wasn't even crowded! So for years after that, it was our Thanksgiving tradition. I think our friends the Eccles went with us a few times. This picture was taken one Thanksgiving as a possible Christmas card photo. (One smile out of four isn't bad.)














My parents would give us money for lunch and point us in the direction of the stand that sold hot dogs and hamburgers and they would eat (a nice turkey dinner) somewhere else and we'd meet up after. It didn't take us long to realize we should ask to eat with them and then we all enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving meal!

I have fun memories of Thanksgiving at an un-crowded Disneyland!

[This post was previously posted on 11/21/07.]

Homemade turkey

Thanksgiving countdown

Adrienne (aka Princess Red Leaf) at the First Thanksgiving.

Holiday Recipe Extravaganza

I'm all over Shelly's Holiday Recipe Extravaganza! I will post my favorite holiday recipes in the sidebar on the right at least once a week.

Chilly picture day

Warming up to Winter

Winter always follows Fall but each year it takes a little getting used to (even after twenty of them). It's turned very cold this week and gradually I remember that I do have winter gear and that I should find it and use it. However, I can't seem to locate my gloves or hats (see scarves below). [I'm not as organized as you think I am.] And, worse than the missing my gear is that I can't figure out how to correctly work my heater.













Good thing the winter is six months long. It might take me that long to warm up.

Giddy up!

My niece is expecting her first baby in a few weeks. [That means Chuck is going to be a Grandpa!] When I heard Rachel and Matthew were expecting a baby I decided I wanted to make a quilt. This might be my favorite quilt yet; I had trouble parting with it today but it is on its way by pony express to the wild, wild west and I hope they love this quilt half as much as I do.

Disclaimer: I hired a friend to do the lasso-looking machine quilting for me.

My implant (singular)

In March of '07 I cracked a tooth. The tooth was extracted and I got an implant (and dropped a pretty penny after my dental insurance paid for half of it). Since then I've had this "man-hole cover" or "hub cap" over it. A new year and little dental insurance and flexible spending dollars later, I am finally getting my crown. I went to the oral surgeon's office first for the removal of the hub cap and attachment of The Post (hammer hammer). Then I went to the dentist's office to be fitted for my (Miss America) crown. The impression goo was purple and nasty. I was gagging/choking/crying (a wee bit) all at the same time. Lest you think I've been hill-billying it for the last 18 months, the missing tooth is in the back half of my mouth and not too noticeable OR I would have taken care of this long ago.

Coming up in a few weeks: The Legend of the Crown

Dinner and a game

I dropped by a friend's house after work because she wanted to order some of my photocards. She invited me to stay for dinner. They play a game at dinner every night with their kids (ages 9, 7, 5 and 8 months). So we played "Mrs. Basghetti likes her spaghetti with ___ on top of it" and it was really fun. We went in age order and you had to remember the things everyone else said. Let's see if I can remember them all:

sugar
cheese
tomato sauce
marshmallows
anchovies
candy corn
candy
lettuce
hot fudge sauce
whipped cream
honey
a smushed head
olives

I can't! But I will remember how delicious the potato leek soup was (I need to get the recipe), how nice and well mannered the kids were, and that they are one of the coolest families I know.

Random Sampler

--Today some members of the Trinity Church choir attended our church and sang along with our choir and congregation. It was wonderful and memorable.

--I invited a new friend at church over for dinner tonight. She is from Haiti and is very nice. Her English is good and I enjoyed getting to know her better. I always have room for a new friend on my bus.

--One of my friends moved to Korea last year. She emailed me this week to see if she could ship some of her Christmas presents for her kids to me so when her husband is in Boston in a few weeks he can pick them up and take them home. She left me voice mail (while I was in the laundry room). I called her back on a 801 number. I appreciate fancy technology.

For the gal who has almost everything

The boyfriend pillow. Only $19.99.

Woburn Five-O

Tonight I went to eat (at Bill&Bob's) with two friends and when we got to my first friend's house we sat in the car chatting, like gals do. The next thing you know there is a cop getting out of his car and running my license plate. I knew my registration wasn't expired so I couldn't figure out what he was doing. I rolled down my window and said, "Is there a problem?" He said, "Some people have been driving around this parking lot and they have the same numbers as you do on their license plate." It was so weird. The next thing you know the cop says to me, rudely, "Did you hear what I said? Do you speak English?" I told him that I heard what he said. I guess he realized I wasn't who he was looking for so he walked around his "cruiser" and got in. Then two other cop cars showed up and were driving around the parking lot. It was bizarre.

"To protect and serve."

It's not over

Enough with the card party already...

Card Party prep

Veterans Day

It's card party time

Wednesday/Thursday 7-10pm

From MA to PA

This picture was taken today with my friend Jennifer. We were college roommates my sophomore year (her freshman year). And, we were roommates in Boston. She's the one that called me one day over 20 years ago (when I was deciding where to move) and invited me to be her roommate in a two-bedroom apartment in Medford. I remember one Saturday my first summer Jennifer and I rambled on up to Maine for the first time and ate lobster on a picnic table; it didn't take long to fall in love with New England! Jennifer and her family are moving to PA this week. I went to visit her tonight to say good-bye and good luck.

There were never such devoted sisters

The last game

Today was my friend Kyle's last high school football game.

Chasing a rock star