Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Can you imagine

Can you imagine how dreary, dead, and awful winter would be without snow? I hear people complaining about it, and I just want to yell at the top of my lungs that they need to thank God for the beauty in a drab season! I LOVE winter. LOVE. Not just a little, a LOT. The cold? Yeah, it can stink when you get that chill in your bones that just won't go away. However, that's also why God gave us the resources to invent hot tea, hot chocolate, and my personal favorite.... COFFEE!!!

Today, I am thanking God for the beauty that I woke up to. I thanked Him the whole trip, creeping along, taking the kids to school. I love the snow. And it's finally here!!!

Monday, December 1, 2008

Thanksgiving 08

As I am sure you all know we went to Omaha to spend the day with Dad's family. I made pies, Jeremy made stuffing, and we helped Mom with the other sides. Here is a little run down....

Wednesday afternoon when the little ones were napping and the older ones outside running around blowing off steam (something that seems months ago with the chill in the air this morning), I decided to start on a couple of the four pies I was to make. We were headed to Omaha that evening, so I figured getting a little head start would do me good. Started blending the first crust. I have to admit that my first crust is always a little trying and usually gets pitched, so I don't stress over it, knowing the following crusts will be perfect. Yeah. Usually. I rolled out the first one and the waxed paper stuck like glue. Ok, no biggie! Threw it away and started a new one. Yeah. Same deal. Pitched it. Deciding it was the Crisc0, I opened a new container of "lard" and went back to work. DRAT!!!! UGGGHHHH!!!!!! Nope. Tried a fourth one, started bawling, called the hubs to stop and get me some **colorful metaphor** store bought crusts NOW!!!! I don't know what happened. I tried everything. They were ALL too wet and no matter how much flour I added, they were poo. I honestly spent all of my Wednesday crying. I NEVER get emotional over things like that. NEVER. It's just pie crust for Pete's sake! Not this time. This time, somehow, I felt like a huge failure. Like I had let everyone down. Needless to say, everyone loved the pies. Next year, I will do my best to try try again, knowing now that it really doesn't matter I can always buy some!

Fast forward to that night. We put the kids to bed and sat up with Mom and Dad and Rob. Something we haven't really done in a long time. Sure we get together, but to sit and talk like we did that night doesn't happen often. It was wonderful. And, as you can imagine, funny.

Thanksgiving Day was relatively (HA!) uneventful. One aunt tried to make it a sad day, but thankfully the majority ruled and it was VERY fun. Funny event of the day:

We were sitting at the tables downstairs stuffing ourselves silly. At the end of the meal, as we were all sitting there talking, Mom got this look of horror on her face and tried to quietly get Rob's attention. I should mention here that we had disconnected the dryer down there to hook up another stove to cook the stuffing and people had been going in and out of the laundry room to get said dish. The table we were sitting at pretty much faced the laundry room. Yeah. Mom's "over the shoulder boulder holders" had been hanging above the stove the entire time!!!!!! SHE WAS MORTIFIED!!!! Needless to say we all had a roaring laugh over it. The funniest part is that no one that had gone in there even noticed! Guess that's a testament to Jeremy's stuffing!!!!

All in all, a wonderful day. VERY tiring. I had a strong need to just get away from everything once we got back to Lincoln that night, so my brother took me to play some Keno. We lost. A LOT. But it was awesome to just hang out, just the two of us, and chat a while.

Life is good.