March Sunday Dinner

March Sunday dinner's theme is "Burger Bar".  The idea being I'll provide the burgers and buns, and everyone else brings what they like to put on their burgers. Have I mentioned I love these themes?

And since we're having burgers, I'm making Mom's Macaroni Salad. I went to put it in my recipe blog and realized I had already put it in there, but sans photos. And then I forgot to take a photo of it when it was done. Some day I'll get a phot of it, but not today. 

Tonight's guests are Graeme/Rose, Kathy/Rowland, Claudia, Janet, Sherrie and I. Small groups are best these days. These are some fun, fun peeps. We laughed all night long. 

The food:

So the theme for this month's dinner was "Burger Bar." I wasn't completely sure what we were going to do with regards to appetizer and desserts being something around burger bar. So we did what we do best, we ignored it. 

I bought some high quality burgers and grilled those bad boys up. American cheese topped each one. I had cheese options, but everyone wanted American. And why not? It's the best. 

Burger toppings were en point too. All the condiments (mayo, mustard, ketchup, and BBQ sauce), a gallon of grilled onions, bacon, crispy onions, lettuce/tomato, and pickles. I mean, come on? That makes one righteous burger. 

Our side dishes were, of course Mom's mac salad and Kathy's Calico beans. 

Photo from Noshing
 in the Nolands

Appetizer was from Graeme and Rose which were these little risotto balls of goodness. Risotto with cheese, basil and then covered in panko and deep fried, called Arancini. These things were amaze-balls.  Those two really raise the bar for appetizers. 

Then there was dessert. Janet raised the bar there too. She made this wonderfully, delicious lemon pound cake and then decorated it all up with berries. So gorgeous and, let me tell you, so delicious. 

The best story of the night was Lucy being in love with Graeme. Graeme is allergic to cats and for some reason Lucy just wanted to be on his lap. She was determined. At one point, she just sat down not taking no for an answer. Poor Graeme. We had to have Claudia go get some allergy stuff from her car to save him. I think I'm going to have to buy some to have on hand just for Graeme. I can't control Lucy. It's easier to just feed him pills. 

This was a funny photo. The two nutballs in the background thought we were doing the "funny" photo. Fooled them. I love their spirit though and I love all these people. Every one of them brings something special to my life and I can't imagine what life would be without them. 

Next month our theme is Thai. Not even sure what that will be like. I'd be willing to bet most these folks have never made Thai food before. 

London Baby

My entire life I've lacked the "lucky" gene. I don't win things. I have bad gambling karma. And I generally am the raffle winner who puts in ALL the tickets and wins nothing. It's a good life. It keeps my expectations low and me humble. That all changed on a cold day in Seattle last week. 

I woke to an "urgent" 7am meeting from my boss. I immediately started sweating wondering if today was the day I was fired. Or what mistake I had made to cost the company. Insert any panic stricken thought you can come up with. I had them. This, I know, is a version of PTSD because back in the day the last "urgent" 7am meeting from my boss, I got fired. So I get nervous. 

All the same, I got my coffee and dialed into the Zoom call and waited for him to show up. It was snowing, and the anticipation of potentially losing my job had me in a bad mood. I was already creating stories in my head around what I was going to do. Soon his admin dialed in and her attitude didn't give anything away. She calmly said he was running behind but was on his way. She asked about the weather and we chatting about the difference between our 34F versus her 80F in Tampa. 

Finally, he dialed in. He wasn't on video so I couldn't really gage his expression. Then he starts, "Well Jenn..." I held my breath. My heart was racing. I had worked myself up into quite the panic. He continues, "Well Jenn, you won!" 

Won? Wait, what? 

He said, "You won the free trip to London to see the Inside Man Premier". I was still silent. His admin had to ask if I was still there. Finally, my brain kicked in and I said, "Are you serious? I won? That never happens." 

That's right, I won a free trip to London! 

So here's why a free trip was even available. 

My company, KnowBe4, has a series called The Inside Man. It's a series of 8 minute episodes telling a story that actually teaches you about security and privacy. It's very well done and has quite the following with our customers. There are currently 4 seasons. Season 5 is being released this March and to make a splash they have a movie premier of it. We invite customers and fans to this premier and its a very big deal for many people. 

This year, my boss came up with the idea to send one of the Courseware team's employees. So in our last large team meeting he announced that everyone who has been nominated as Teammate of the Month will be added to a drawing for a free trip to London to attend The Inside Man premier. 

I remember at the time of this announcement thinking, "Wouldn't it be cool?" Followed quickly by, "No need to worry since you don't have that type of luck." 

Turns out I do! 

The company is paying for my air and 2 nights in a hotel (along with food for those days). And since I figured I was all the way over in London, I might as well stay over the weekend. 

This is a quick turn for me and travel. Once I learned I was going, I immediately went into planner mode. And then I freaked out because my bone spur is still not heeled and I got to wondering how I'd walk around London. For a millisecond I thought I might decline the trip. Then I realized, I can do what I can and that'll be enough.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go buy a lotto ticket while my luck is on the positive side.

End of February...already!

I say almost every week how crazy fast time is passing by. It's like I blink and another month swooshes by. 

This last week was a busy one for me. I don't leave the house often, and when I have to more than a couple of times in a week I feel like I need a full day to decompress. I thank COVID for this new Jenn. I used to love going out and these days I just like being at home. And yet, I want to go out, it's just so exhausting sometimes. 

On Tuesday I got my hair done did. This coloring of the gray hairs gets expensive, but I'm not yet ready to stop. Mom grayed nicely and I'm sure I will too, but I'm not ready. The last time I got my hair done, my stylist wanted to "try something new". I'm normally ok with that because I trust her. This new thing was the same thing I had been doing, just in a different way. It...took...4... hours...! No one needs to be at a salon for that long. 

This time it was a simple base color to get rid of the grays fighting their way to the sunlight. I was only there for 2 hours and that was perfect. 

On Wednesday was dinner club. I took zero photos! Weird I know. It was Sherrie's pick this time. She picked Tipsy Cow in Woodinville. I've been there before and have enjoyed their burgers. 

I've been trying to cut down my carb intake so going to a burger bar is not exactly the best place to go when trying to eat lower carb. I pulled out my tricks from when I was really serious on eating low carb and it worked! I looked at the menu before I went. Choose what I wanted and had a plan to eat it without the bun. And I did it! I really wasn't sure my willpower would stand. I had fries though. And that's okay. 

I've decided in this adventure of eating better that carbs need to be a part of my life. The all or nothing isn't working. If I take them all out then all I want is carbs. So there has to be a balance. I need to learn to live with them in my life in balance to all the healthy stuff. AND I need to give myself some grace for making good choices and bad choices. Being ok with the bad choices is the hardest. In the past I'd fall off the wagon and and that would be it. Diet over. 

We had a great time as usual. Laughing and eating is what our family does best. 

Thursday was another foot doctor visit. It's been two weeks and I followed his instructions - mostly. I was ready to get a scolding from him, and I kinda did. Turns out the boot he gave me to wear at night I haven't been able to wear through the night. It cause my foot to ache beyond belief so I take it off. I usually keep it on for about 2 hours then it comes off. He really wants me to get used to it for the entire night. If I can't then it'll take longer than to heal. The ultimate fix is surgery and I really don't want to do that. 

Two more weeks with stretching and wearing the boot. Cross your fingers it works. 

Friday, Janet and I went wine tasting. I got the passports this year for us and we are trying out best to make sure they get used. This time we went to the Woodin Creek area of Woodinville. We tasted at Rocky Pond, Truth Teller and Ancestry. All had great wines. I came home with 4 more bottles. 

So March is around the corner. It'll be gone in a flash no doubt. We're waiting for snow again tonight and I cannot wait until Spring. I'm very much over winter and the snow. 

Week in Review

A big thing in the scrapbook world is weekly scrapping of what happened that week. That's a lot of scrapping to me and, frankly, my life isn't that interesting to have enough photos to scrap weekly. It's called Project Life and it was a big hit and still is. 

I like to do it a bit different and each week I just journal about what happened that week. Some weeks I can fill a page or two. Some weeks I've got nothing. What's helpful, to me, is that when I do go and scrap some important stories, I can go back to that journal and see what and when. 

This blog is like a journal and I'm trying hard to keep it updated and write every now and then. It's fun to me and I think all three of my readers enjoy it. I hope. 

So what's happening? 

Last week was a birthday week in our family. 

Melanie on the left, me on the right - 1972

Starting with my older sister. She's 4 years older than me and we weren't really close growing up. She lived with the real dad for most of my informative years. We just didn't bond like sisters do. For much of my life I wasn't really fond of her and her me. I felt she treated my mother poorly and I just couldn't accept that behavior and thus like her. I "loved" her because she was my sister, but I didn't like her all the time. 

When mom died our relationship took a turn for the worse. We both grieved and we both took it out on each other. Then we stopped talking. Then something happened and my sister started reaching out. A couple of times a year. Then more. And slowly we started chatting on the phone more. It's been nice. She seems different. Happy almost. And while we'll never be BFFs, I think mom would be happy with the progress we made. So on Feb 14th I wished her a Happy Birthday. 

Ward Spaid (Grandpa)

Feb 16th was my Grandpa Spaid's birthday. I loved Grandpa Spaid. He was a kind, gentle man who had the patience of a saint. He died suddenly in 1984 of a aneurism. I remember thinking at that time that I'd miss him and I'd miss getting to know him as I got older. He would have been fun to sit and talk to as an adult. He was born in 1905 and I wish I had the chance to ask him questions and hear about his life. He was Mom's Dad. 

I have some fun memories of Grandpa Spaid that filter to the surface around his birthday. The first, and my favorite, was when we lived in Albuquerque, NM. Grandma and Grandpa lived with us for some time. My sister had a bike that had one of those banana seats on it. Grandpa would put me on the back of the seat and we'd right around the cul de sac we lived on. He'd ride in circles for what felt like hours to entertain me. 

The second was when my sister and I would get shipped off to their house in Azusa, CA for the summer. He was a tinker-er. He'd spend hours in the garage doing what, I don't know. I'd want to be with him and he'd set me at his work bench with some type of wire, and a small hammer. He'd give me a length of this weird wire and tell me it needs to be pounded flat. My grandma later told me he threw out a lot of wire keeping me busy for no reason. 

Ahhh memories. I miss him. 

Dad and I in Madrid Spain - 1986

The last birthday/anniversary is that of my dad and I. He officially adopted me in 1983 and we celebrated that day as my new "birthday." Every year he'd call and every year he'd get me a small gift. It was our special day. When we lived closer to each other we'd go to lunch and just have a day of him and I. 

I could spend pages of memories with dad. He taught me so much and I'm so very grateful that he came into our lives. He wasn't really sure what to do with a teenage girl when he adopted me, but he figured it out. His patience was legendary and his advice always solid - whether I followed it or not. 

He taught me to cook. He taught me to love food. He taught me to enjoy cooking and trying new recipes and especially those of different ethnicities. 

He taught me to love travel. To always be curious about other cultures and above all, respect those cultures and their beliefs. I think this was one of the biggest things I appreciate from him. Learning to love other cultures and travel to see them. 

I miss him too. 

So ... that was the week in birthdays. 

Other things currently going on is me eating better. I went on Metformin a couple of weeks ago to help bring down my A1Cs. I don't have the labs yet, but I'm sure that number is in the diabetic range. 

Metformin has some wicked side effects when you start taking it. I started with 500mg and slowly growing to 2000 mg. But the first week..oh lord. It causes some, um, gastro issues. Let's just say I bought myself some Cottenelle, it's softer. 

Come to find out it also has two lesser know side effects that only impact a small swatch of people. Rapid heart rate and blurred vision. Yay. I had two days of serious rapid heart beat. So much I thought I might be having a heart attack. And no, I didn't go to the hospital. I'm a dope. 

Thankfully those two side effects are gone and now I'm only left with the gastro issues. Which I can deal with just fine. 

I'm up to 1000 mg and it really seems to help with cravings and appetite. I'm not "snacking" as much as I usually do. I've lowered my carb intake to about 75-85 grams a day. My doctor would prefer it be closer to 55, but come on? That's insane. I want to learn to eat and live my life WITH Carbs. I've done pretty good and am down 4.5 lbs in two weeks. That's something. 

And with that, that's really all I've got to update you on. Bored yet? Me neither! If you're still with me, thanks for reading. 

10 YO

 

The little beasties are 10 years old today! Ten!! That happened so fast. 

I can vividly remember when I got them. Pookie had just passed. My niece at the time was fostering mama kitties and had three little kittens of the latest litter left. Two were still available. 

She called and asked if I wanted them. I said no. I wasn't ready. Pookie had only been gone for a week. It didn't seem right. 

Then she sent me photos. Straight to the heart! Those two little pink noses and they looked so adorable and so lovable. 

I still said no. 

Then about a day later I relented and said I'd take them. Only she had just taken them to the pet store to be sold. I made her go back and get them. $85 later I had two kittens. 

Cammie and the kittens, at the time, were in Cle Elum. This meant I needed to drive over and get them. So a week later, off I went to go pick up these two bundles of joy. Paula and Patrick is what she named them. I KNEW I'd be renaming them. 

We got all the way home. I introduced them to the small walk in closet that would be their home for a couple of days. I introduced them to the litter box. And I introduced them to several friends. 

Now here we are, ten years later. 

Two peas in a pod

10YO senior cat vet visit

Snuggle buddies

10 year olds

They're pretty spoiled cats - as cats (or any pets) should be. They have me trained. They annoy the bejesus out of me. And they bring me such joy. I guess I'll keep them.

Wine Tasting 2023 has begun

Several years ago, circa 2018 I think, Janet and I bought the Woodinville Winery Passport. The passport has about 50 wineries who are participating in the "tasting" passport. It's a great idea to get people into your tasting room. 2018 happened to be the year I had a goal of tasting 50 different wineries for my 50th birthday year. And I did it! 

Ahem. 

Then 2019 we did some tastings, but nothing as serious as 2018. 

This year I decided I was buying Janet and I this passport again. It really helps to get us out and do something, and wine. I mean, come on. 

There are several on the list that we've tasted before and remember. And several we weren't sure if we've tasted (not promising at all), and some we've never tasted. The thing about hitting any tasting room multiple times, is every year is different. Their wines change. The grapes change. One wine you may hate one year, then the next you taste it and buy several bottles. 

We started our 2023 adventure yesterday. We know by experience we should only do 3 wineries in one outting. After three your taste buds are really wined out. AND you probably shouldn't drink any more so you can drive. 

The wineries on the list, though, all have different hours, different locations, and some require reservations. The Woodineville Winery group have created an app for this Passport thing. And while that's great, they don't allow you to sort the wineries by location or available times. So...me being me, I put it all in a spreadsheet. You're shocked aren't you?

Janet and I have our next tasting dates already on the calendar and now simply have to choose where to go. But before I get ahead of myself, let's talk about yesterday's tastings. 

We started at Zerba Cellars. I didn't recall it, but we had tasted at Zerba before in 2014. I didn't have a very good experience there at that time. And, to be fair, my wine knowledge was lacking at that time. Still, this visit was fantastic. The two ladies working the tasting room were warm and welcoming. They knew a lot about the wines and spent enough time explaining to us. What makes Zerba special is it's called "rock" wine. The vines grow in a very rocky area, and prefer that. The rocks make the vines really work at it and the result is a bolder taste. I bought three bottles there and would certainly go back and taste them again. 

The next one was 425 Cellars. This was a new one for us. The woman working it was also fantastic. We were the only ones in the room at the time so she spent time chatting us up. She didn't have a lot of knowledge about the red wines because she was a white wine drinker. That was ok with me she knew enough. Their wines were so fantastic. Every one we tasted I fell in love with. Even the white wine we tasted (it was a Pinot Grigio). Their wines were so good that I joined their wine club and bought 3 bottles. Janet bought a rose from them too. I'd highly recommend this winery tasting room. In fact, I'll meet you there. 

After 425, we took a break and had lunch at Vivi Pizzeria. Their pizza is thin crust and so amazingly delicious. Janet and I split a wedge salad and a pizza. It was just what we needed to finish out tasting day. 

The last winery we tasted at was Patterson. We know Patterson very well. We've tasted there several times. This time, though, we just didn't think their wines were that great. It could be that the first two wineries were so great that Patterson was just lackluster.

I managed to come home with 7 bottles of wine. 6 I bought and 1 Janet bought. She likes to buy wine and send it home with me because here is where we'll usually be drinking it. She also likes to let me buy the wine because she knows she'll be likely with me when we drink it. Smart. 

I am happy that we're tasting wines again. I missed it last year. It also gets me out of house - which is where I like to stay too much. I can't wait to taste some of the new ones on the list. Stay tuned for those stories. 

3,153,600 Minutes

Here we are.  I can’t believe it’s been six years. I think about mom every single day; multiple times a day. The number of times that I still want to pick up the phone and call her is outrageously large. I miss her.

 I’ve been extraordinarily bitchy the last week, and it wasn’t until yesterday, that it dawned on me why. The week before mom died, we spent in the hospital sitting with her. Some praying for her. Most of us just talking to her or being with her. And all of us feeling the enormity of what life was going to be like without her. How could we cope? How could we go on? I think, subconsciously, my mind was remembering this week 6 years ago and that was putting me in a horrible mood. 

I can still remember exactly what was going on when I got the call. I had ordered pizza for dinner. I was still working and finishing up some report I was working on. My phone rang. I glanced at it and say it was Jeannette Wraspir. I ignored it. Then my phone rang again and it was Jeannette again. I knew something was up then. 

She very gently told me what happened. The words that stick out even today - "no brain activity". I wasn't sure what it meant but I knew I had to get on the next plane to Tucson. 

 5 days later, at 5:30 in the morning, the hotel phone rang. The doctor called to tell me that she had passed in her sleep in the night. We all had decided to go home the night before and we'd get a good night sleep and come see her in the morning. Us three girls stood at the foot of her bed telling her we were going home and we'd see her in the morning. I said to her that if she was ready to go, we were ready for her to be at peace. 

I hung up the phone from the doctor and sat on the bed wondering how I was going to get through the day without her. Then how is it going to get through the week. Then month. Then year. How was I going to get through all of the “first". The first Mother’s Day, the first birthday, the first Thanksgiving, the first Christmas all of it. I just didn’t know how I was going to survive. And yet here I am six years later having survived the time without mom. And maybe a stronger person because of it.  

Time has made it easier. Most of the time. But there are still days that grief reaches deep into my soul and pulls out whatever is left there.

Six years ago today the loss of mom crushed me. I never imagined I would ever be strong and steady again. Losing her crush me in a way I never imagined it would and yet it made me stronger in a way I never imagined it could.

Grief has no timeline. There isn’t a single day that suddenly the sun will come up and I’ll feel 100% healed. It doesn’t work that way. Instead, it’s like a roller coaster where you may not be able to see the twist and turns around the corner but you can be damn sure they’re there waiting to toss you around. f

I'll get past today. I'll survive the grief of today. Tomorrow I might even smile a little thinking of something Mom would have loved or some inside joke we had. I'll survive. She would want me to, in fact, expect it from me. 

I miss her. 

I have a ridiculous amount of...

I saw this on Facebook tonight and I thought of a funny Mom and Dad story. 

It was a hot July day in Tucson. Dad had just passed away and I was down helping Mom. I didn't know what I'd be helping her with, but I knew just being there would be help enough. 

We had finished dinner. A HUGE rib eye steak, baked potato and a salad (she made the meal in Dad's memory), when Mom hopped up from her chair and started frantically walking around the house. She was opening drawers, cabinets and moving things on shelves. I could not figure out what she was doing. She was clearly looking for something, and she was focused in finding it. 

A good 15 minutes goes buy and she comes back into the living room. She plops down on the sofa by me and dumps a box full of something onto the coffee table. 

"Look at this! Just look at this," she said. 

I looked down and there was AT LEAST 30 nail clippers in all shapes and sizes. 

I, of course, was very confused. When I looked back up at Mom to ask why, and what, and why again, I saw tears in her eyes. Then she said, "You dad could never find his nail clippers. He always bought another pair when he was out. He had them everywhere. Everywhere." I still wasn't sure where she was going with this, then we proceeded to talk all night about how if Dad could have one thing, why not have 10 of them. It was a joke in our family with Dad that when he'd go to the store to buy something on sale, he'd be so many of whatever it was. He'd say it was on sale so stock up. 

Fast forward 4 years I'm dazed and stunned cleaning out Mom's house. She died of a stroke and I flew to Tucson the month after to clean out her house. 

I wasn't really paying attention to what I was doing. I was sorta floating through the house moving things to and from, but not really doing anything. I was still a bit in shock that Mom was gone. I was sitting at her desk and noticed a drawer that had a couple of scissors in it. I jumped up and started rushing through the house picking up scissors EVERYWHERE. I brought them all into the kitchen and dumped them on the table. There were 24 pair of scissors! Who needs that many scissors? 

The family there helping me thought I was losing it, but I started laughing. I laughed and laughed and laughed. I told them the story of Mom after dad died, and here I was after mom died doing the same thing, but with scissors! 

Ironically enough, she also had about 20 nail clippers too. They may have been dad's for all I know. 

For me? What do I have a ridiculous amount of? Pens. I'm a pen whore. I have at least 25 here by my sofa. I have at least 50 upstairs in the scrapbook room. I have a dozen in my office. I have 5-10 in my night stand. I have 4 in my purse. I tell you, they are everywhere in this house. 

What about you?

January Sunday Dinner - Family Favorite theme

Last night was the first of the 2023 themed Sunday dinners. It was a smashing success, as all of them were in 2022. 

Let me back up. In December of 2021 I decided to spice things up with Sunday dinner. I had my December Sunday dinner guests put their suggested themes in bowl and then each guest got to pick one out of the bowl and those ended up being our 2022 themes.

I had so much fun with the themes last year, and everyone played along splendidly, that I decided to do it again this year. The rule this year was we couldn't use any themes from 2022. My "plan" is a theme can return after a year. Otherwise, we'll run out of themes quickly. 

There are a couple on this list that will get tricky for some guests. Many haven't cooked Peruvian food or German food much. Myself included. But in true Jenn insanity, I've already started researching. 

Sunday we kicked off 2023 with Family favorites. The idea here was you'd bring a long standing family favorite, or a recently one. It didn't matter. It just had to be a family recipe that every one enjoys. We had a small group this month so I opted to make my Famous ribs. These really are the bomb. In fact, during dinner, Rowland leaned over and said to me, "Your dad would be proud of these ribs." Makes me tear up just thinking about it. 

Doesn't that look lovely?

I made three racks of ribs. We had enough for everyone to have leftovers. 

Also included in the family favorite menu:

Onion dip from Mark and Vanessa

This dip has shown up at every friend gathering we had in the 90's. Then it became Mark's signature dip for their Ground Hog's day party. It's a dip I associate to him whenever I see it or make it. And it was yummy. 

Janet's Mom's potato salad

This recipe has shown up many times at Wraspir family gatherings. You can't make this in small amounts so we all got leftovers. 

Kathy's Famous Corn Bread

Kathy has a special touch with corn bread. We've had it for years. It always turns out moist and delicious. She says the trick is this small loaf pan so each one is an individual serving. The pan makes great little corn bread loaf and it's delicious. Funny story. Janet wanted Kathy's corn bread recipe one time so she called and asked if she'd share it with her. To which Kathy replied, "Yes. It's a box of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix." We laughed and laughed at how we thought it was a "family recipe" only to find out it's from a box. 

Sherrie's Kick Ass Salad

Sherrie made this amazing salad many years ago and it's has to be my favorite salad of all time. I don't know what exactly it is about this salad, but everything balances perfectly. And it's brought all together by this amazing poppy seed dressing. 

Sex in a Pan

When is sex in a pan not a family favorite? 

The ribs were so tender that when cutting them they fell off the bone. So I have a pile of rib meat instead of actual bones. See, the rib rule in this house is ... I get the butts. You know? The ends of the rack... mmmm. My favorite.

Sherrie, Rowland, Kathy, Vanessa, Janet, Mark and my big noggin right up front.

All in all it was a family favorite fun night. Lots of chatter. Lots of laughter. Lots of napkins. And lots of dishes (not really). 

Looking forward to month's dinner when we travel to West Seattle for The Pantry Goat to host Viva Italia. 

Friends who you forget are friends

We all have them. Friends that we forget about, then you reconnect and it's like "Oh yah, we were friends."

I've got a ton of these types of friends. In almost all cases, we were good, close friends in our twenties. Most of them got married and started having kids, and slowly the relationships fell off. They had new lives. I still had my fabulous single life. 

I missed most of these friends and I would, occasionally, make an effort to plan a dinner or a get together with them. This almost always failed because they were "busy" with kid stuff. After three cancellations or three attempts to connect, I would stop. Then I'd just forget about them. Not on purpose, but because they aren't part of my "regular" life. 

Then suddenly, one day, one of them reaches out. Suddenly you remember, "Oh ya, we were friends." 

I'm not hurt, usually, that they go dormant. I don't take it personally, well, at least these days I don't. I used to and had to do a lot of internal work to realize, it isn't me...it IS them. 

Today I was contacted by a friend I haven't connected with in a very long time. He's not one of those that got married and moved on, but rather our life circumstances moved us in different directions. He reached out last week and asked if we could hop on a call. Literally scheduling a call with me because, "he knows I'm busy." 

My first reaction was, "eww...a phone call." Then my second reaction was how great it would be to chat with him and get caught up. Neither of us could remember how long it had been, we speculated that it had been early 2022. 

What's great about these types of connections is, regardless of how much time passes, you pick up where you left off and have a great conversation. 

We chatted for an hour about life, sudden life changes, new years plans/resolutions, intent on making our lives better, and being kind to ourselves when we fail. It was a really good conversation and I'm so very glad we had it. 

Thing is, it doesn't make me want to reach out to any other missing friends. You'd think it would, but it doesn't. I realized long ago that I just wasn't as important to some of these folks for them to even make the slightest effort. And that's ok. 

What's my point? It's okay to forget friends. It's ok to reconnect. And it's ok to not reconnect. Don't put all that pressure on yourself to feel "obligated" just because it seems like the social norm. Do it. Don't do it.  

2022 Favorite Books and other goals

 Happy New Year! When the clock rang midnight, a new ready goal is begun. This year, like the last several, I'm sticking to my 50 books read in a year. And as with each year, I'm going to try to not wait until the last couple of months and find myself having to read 10+ books to hit my goal. 

So, like any good project manager, I've broken my goal into quarters. To keep on track I have to read 12.5 books a quarter. That's doable. 

My second reading goal is to visit the local library. I mean, I have a library card. It is only a mile away and browsing books often means I find new authors to read. In addition, getting at least the book club books at the library saves me $$, which is also a goal. 

I have no goals around WHAT I read. I am doing Book Bingo again though. It never really drives what I read, it's more a happy coincidence when I read a book that is also on the Bingo board. 

2022 had many good books for me. And some horrible books. I read all the book club books - none of them I disliking so much I couldn't finish it. 

Here are my Top 10 favorites for 2022. Bold are the top 3 favorites.

1. Dear Edward - Ann Napolitano - An interesting story line about survival and how you learn to deal with trauma.
2. Everything We Keep - Kerry Lonsdale - I liked the mystery in this book. I thought I knew what happened, but I was wrong. 
3. I Found You - Lisa Jewell - Lisa Jewell is one of my favorite authors. She did not disappoint with this book. I read this one quickly.
4. In an Instant - Suzanne Redfearn - This one leaves you with a question of "what would you do?"
5. Magic Hour - Kristin Hannah - I loved the characters in this book and how they all struggle to know and feel love. It's a book about survival and how much inner strength we each can have.
6. The Exiles - Christina Baker Kline - This one had a twist in the middle of the book I did not see coming. I thought I knew which character this book was about, and I was way wrong. 
7. The Girl from Ballymor - Kathleen McGurl - This book stuck with me for some reason. I felt like the characters and I became friends.
8. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid - Such a good book with a nice little twist I did not see coming.
9. Verity - Colleen Hoover - By the end of this one, I was blown away with more questions than answers. A nice twist that some could see coming, but not the twist you think. 
10. We all Want Impossible Thinks - Catherine Newman - This one made me cry like nobody's business.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get to reading.

The week of celebrations

The week after Christmas has always been on of dragging out the holiday spirit. I used to joke that in our family we'd celebrate from Dec 20th through the new year. So may Christmas parties with the extended family, Christmas with the fam, then my birthday, then New Year's eve. It was always busy and by the time the new year came around I was done seeing family for some time. 

This year I realized how much I missed that. Be careful what you wish for. 

The birthday this year was relatively uneventful on the day of. In fact, it was a little lonely later in the evening. I used to make a big deal about my birthday and ALWAYS had some type of gathering. That ended during Covid and it's never come back. I'm kinda ok with that and kinda not. 

The birthday celebration started the day before. We usually do the Keg for our birthday dinners, but I neglected to make reservations for mine and we couldn't get in. Not wanting to NOT go to dinner, I rallied and finally decided to go to Kidd Valley for a burger. 

I used to work at Kidd Valley and have always enjoyed their burgers. It's simple. It's easy. It's delicious. And it's something I knew we'd enjoy. Just getting together is fun so I knew it would be worth it. 

Bacon cheeseburger with mayo, ketchup, and tomato only.
Mushrooms and the rare chocolate/pb shake

My favorites.

The actual day of the celebration of my birth, Sherrie and I had lunch at Mod Pizza. I had to work so I had only about an hour to spend, but it was fun to get out and have lunch with the BFF. 

After lunch, of course, I had to go get my birthday Starbucks. I ordered what has been my recent favorite - Venti Chocolate Cream Cold Brew with extra Chocolate cream cuz it's my birthday. The barista said because it was my birthday I should have ordered a trenta! Oddly enough, I never think about going bigger and more expensive when it's free. I just get what I usually get. 

After work s when the birthday turned glum. I didn't plan any fancy dinner for myself (had Shepherd's Pie Soup). Didn't really do anything but watch TV and read. It was boring. And a little lonely. 

What I missed the most was my phone ringing at 7am and my Mom on the other end singing Happy Birthday to me so off key that most dogs would howl. This was her thing and I missed it every year. This year I missed it more than I care to admit. 

My sister called later in the day and sang to me. She said she remembered how much she loved getting that call from mom and thought maybe she'd pick up that tradition. She and I aren't overly close, but this meant a lot to me. 

So, here we are on the last day of the year. I have to get my goals together and have been thinking about who I am now, who I have been and who I want to be. I've let a lot go in the past two years, and not in a good way. Stay tune for more on my "goals" for the next year. 

Here's wishing you all a Happy New year and I hope 2023 brings you much love, laughter, and joy. 

That's a Wrap

Christmas 2022 is done! 

I didn't do a whole lot yesterday. Janet and Ashley were coming to dinner so I had the whole day to just hang out and do whatever I wanted. Normally, I'd be up in the scrapbook room doing something, but just didn't feel it yesterday. 

All day I felt like a dark cloud was hanging over me. I felt lonely. I felt like the loss of both my parents was really real. I felt like all the traditions we had for Christmas are gone. No one to share them with anymore. I was sad most the day. Even as I type this I can feel the tears wanting to come. 

I kept trying to tell myself it was just another day. Nothing to be sad about. It was only a Sunday in which people were coming to dinner. And no matter how I tried to convince myself, it didn't work. It was a Sunday but it was also Christmas.

Despite the sadness and grief that was boiling inside of me, I had a pretty good day. I made lasagna for Christmas dinner. In all my life I've never made lasagna for Christmas dinner. It has almost always been a nice cut of beef of some sort. But with so few of us here I decided something new was in order. The recipe for this lasagna is over on the cooking blog. 

We started the celebration with the traditional Clam Dip. This batch turned out so good. I swear I follow the recipe every time for this dip. Sometimes it's spot on. Sometimes it's not. Yesterday it was spot on. 

After all was said and done, it was a nice evening. Good wine. Good food. Good conversation. Good TV (we watched Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives all evening). 

Now I turn to the birthday celebration and the new year. Bring it!

Merry Christmas Eve

Here we are. Dec 24th ... already. I know we have a week left in this year, but my god this year went fast. 

The "excitement" over the last week has been the snow and ice. Yes! Snow! And Ice. Y'all know how much I loath snow and ice. It's beautiful. But it really doesn't belong on the roads. 

But before I get to that, let's talk about wine. 

Janet and I went wine tasting for like the second time this year. Far cry from years past where we got out a lot more to taste wine. I bought us the wine passports for next year so hopefully we'll get out more. 

We hit three wineries and I ended up bringing home 3 bottles of wine. And Janet actually bought a bottle of wine. 

As we sat at the first winery the snow started coming down. I was freaking out internally because I didn't want to drive in it. Thankfully it was still to warm so nothing was sticking, so we continued on to the other two wineries. 

I decided on the way home from wine tasting that, based on the forecast, I should probably go to the store and buy a couple more meals and the ingredients for Christmas dinner. The last thing I wanted was to NOT be able to actually cook Christmas dinner because I couldn't get out to buy ingredients. 

I'm so glad I did. Sunday afternoon the snow started. Just a skiff, but snow all the same. 

The snow started in earnest on late Monday night into Tuesday last week. I had 6" again on my back deck. It just kept coming. All....day...long. I shoveled my drive way three times during the day. Learning from last year that if I don't shovel as the snow comes down, then it's too heavy to shovel when it's done. I'm so very glad I did shovel. Kept my driveway nice and clean...for no one. I mean, I wasn't going anywhere, but just in case someone came to see me. 

On top of all that snow was frigid temperatures. It got cold. One day I woke up and it was 16 F outside. SIXTEEN! Reminded me of the days in Minot, ND and how much I hated snow then (I was in 2nd grade. You'd think a kid would like snow. Not this kid.)

The frigid temps caused freezing rain and all the roads in the Seattle area were covered in a thick layer of ice. I went out briefly just to see it and my clear driveway looked ok, but it was slicker than slick. I couldn't believe the number of people who were out on the roads too. Even though the advice was to stay inside. So I spent a good part of the day watching the news and seeing all these cars slide down hills and crashing into other cars. 

So, I've been stuck inside for almost a week. A week! Gah. While I've gotten out to walk around, it's not the same as getting in my car and going anywhere I want, like to go get coffee. Blueberry stopped by on Wednesday with a hot chocolate for me. She knows me too well. 

So here we are, the day before Christmas and it's finally raining. It's a balmy 41F outside this morning. My drive is slowly melting which means maybe, maybe, by tomorrow I could go out. Which is ironic since there's no place to really go that'll be open. 

And so on this melting Christmas eve, I wish all my friends and families (and my enemies) a very merry Christmas! Enjoy being with your friends and family. Hug them all. Tell them you love them and remember that before you know it, it'll be 2023!!

Sunday Funday Dinners

In Aug 2010,  I started this "Sunday dinner" thing. I invited a handful of friends to dinner and the rest, as they say, is history. 

Here we are at the end of 2022 and I'm proud to say my Sunday dinners are going strong. The guest list has certainly changed over the years. Added some new folks. Tossed other folks aside (for reasons I won't mention). Lost a few, sadly. And have what I call the "standard gang". My main peeps. They are invited every time and show up almost every time.

The "dinner" portion has changed over the years too. In the beginning I did the whole dinner. Everything from appetizers to desserts. And I liked that. I controlled the meal. I could plan accordingly and I could, of course, make sure everything "went together". 

But over the years the family wore me down. They kept offering to bring things. They wanted to participate. And a couple of them felt bad that I was forking out all the dough for the dinner. Even though I was ok with that. So I started allowing people to bring things. I tried to contain them though by assigning a list of "what was needed." So then every Sunday dinner, I'd make the "main dish" and I'd put the list out of Appetizer, salad, side, bread, and dessert. Or a combination of that. It's worked. 

I'd like to also add I got less "controlly" about Sunday dinner and begin to just enjoy how it turned out every time. 

This year I introduced themes. I LOVED the theme idea. It was a ton of fun to branch out of our norm and try new things. The "rule" was that if you were contributing to Sunday dinner it had to be in that theme. And surprisingly everyone followed the rules.  

We had this year's last Sunday dinner on this last Sunday. Mexican was the theme! The additional bonus of the December Sunday dinner is it's also a cookie exchange. Mexican food AND treats? Whoa!

The "standard" gang

The new "tradition" is to pick the next year's themes. And am I here to tell you next year theme's are going to be WOW! 

So if you want an invite, you gotta let me know. We might be able to squeeze you in.

I often wondered if Sunday dinners would run it's course at some point. The thing is, though, I think they might be here to stay. And I'm ok with that. 

Stealing and such nonsense

I was thinking about a childhood memory this weekend that first made me mad and then made me think how easy it is to accuse someone of a wrong doing without all the evidence. 

I had someone try to steal from me and it made me think about when I was accused of stealing. 

Now in the spirit of full disclosure, I did shoplife ONCE in my life. I lifted a big comb when I was in 5th grade from the 7-11. The owner caught me. Called my mother who had to drive 45 minutes from work to come and pick me up. Oh boy was I busted! Like beyond busted. I think I might still be grounded. 

When I was in 3rd grade we lived on base in Great Falls MT. Our neighbor had a teenage daughter who used to babysit me on occasion. She was a ton of fun. We'd dress up in her "adult" clothes and play "high school". She was just awesome. 

One day we were playing and she gave me a little purse and put some chapstick/gloss in it. She showed me how to put it across my chest and carry it. She said it was "cool" and so I thought it was too. 

While in her room her Mom popped her head in and said my Mom called and they were home. So I headed home. 

When I got home, I went straight to my room to change out of my school clothes. Mom went in after to gather up the clothes and found the little purse. She came storming out of the room and I got the "Jennifer Joy get in here" voice. 

She shook the purse in front of me and yelled "What is this?" And I explained what it was and why I had it. She then accused me of stealing it. 

I swore I didn't. 

She didn't believe me. She pulled me next door. Hammered on their door and tried to force me to apologize to the babysitter for stealing it. By this time I was crying and afraid (Mom could get a little intense sometimes). After a moment the babysitter explained to Mom that I hadn't stolen it just left with it. She told her about how we were playing "high school" and she showed me how to wear it. 

Mom handed the purse back to the babysitter and apologized for bothering them. 

She marched me home. We sat down to dinner. She never apologized for accusing me of stealing. 

I asked her many years later why. She said she made such a fuss about it that she didn't feel she could. 

I tell you this because recently someone tried to steal from me in my own house. I was shocked and a little sad. I didn't make a scene. I, instead, stewed on it. And stewed on it ... and stewed on it. 

Still stewing by the way. 

Thanksgiving and all it's memories

I've likely made or helped with 40+ Thanksgiving meals. It's a day that is full of traditions and memories of Mom for me. She and I were the cooks on Thanksgiving and I miss that. 

I was trying to remember back in my life the first time I remember helping mom, or rather wanting to help Mom, cook Thanksgiving dinner. I can't really pinpoint it. It feels like I've always been standing at her side prepping and cooking. Then eventually we'd be cooking over the phone when they moved to AZ.

Back in the day, I do remember us getting up at the butt-crack of dawn to get the turkey ready to cook what felt like all day. That was before they made those turkey bags that Mom quickly fell in love with and used every year. Cuts down the cooking time and makes a good bird. 

Mom and I used to sit and talk about the plan for the day the night before. Once I was older it may not have been in person, but it was always a conversation we didn't miss. I'd ask her things like, "have you made your clam dip yet?" and she'd ask me "what time are you serving dinner?"  Our conversation every year was almost exactly the same, but it was something we had to do. In fact, we joked about if we didn't have this conversation, the turkey gods would take offense and burn our turkey. 

Then the day of I made sure I'd call Mom while I was making my dressing. We used to taste it vigorously when we cooked together. We'd laugh and say we were making sure the seasoning was right. So when we weren't together I'd call and ask her the same thing. It makes me smile even today. 

When Mom passed, my first Thanksgiving without her was difficult. I wanted to call and laugh and taste and laugh some more. 

The Niece was my helper for a couple of years. We made our own traditions and we laughed at our own new jokes. We had a turkey bag blow out one year that we still talk about today. It came up in conversation when I got the turkey out of the oven. She and I'd make a special drink and we'd try to wiggle a oiled up 20 plus pounder into a bag with all it's limbs sticking out here and there. Oh man we laughed. 

But now, she's moved to the other side of the country. So the last two Thanksgivings have been just me. And that's ok. I still have my memories. And thankfully, I talk to myself and always agree with myself. 

This year I opted for a smaller bird. I was only feeding 6 (turned out we only had 5) and I figured a 17 pound turkey was fine. And it was. It was WAY easier to get into that darn bag. 

My Thanksgiving meal is simple: Clam dip for an appetizer, turkey, dressing, broccoli casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, black olives, sweet pickles and cranberry sauce. 

The broccoli casserole has been tradition for - gosh I don't even know how many years. It has always been on the table. Until it wasn't. 

It makes a ton and is impossible to cut in half. So this year I opted for my Cheesy Broccoli and Rice Casserole. It still has broccoli and cheese in it and it is easier to make in smaller amounts. I still had a ton of leftovers.

Dinner was right on time. We were minus one as Janet's mom was sick. We ate. We drank. And we were merry. 

I think next year I can even get as small as a 15 pounder (if you can find one) and maybe even cut the casseroles in half. Though, to be fair, I did cut the dressing in half and we still had a ton, so maybe I'll need to do it in half again. But I do love leftover stuffing. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with all the trimmings and all family and friends you can manage. 

Nashville - Day 6

 Hello November!

Last day in Nashville! We used the hop on hop off trolley to get to the Ryman so we can go through the museum. Only...we didn't know they closed at 11 today! Sherrie was very bummed. We missed it on Monday because it closed early too. So we planned on doing it Tuesday, only we didn't know it closed early again. 

So we walked over to the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum. I absolutely didn't want to waste my time in that, so I opted to sit in the lobby and people watch. My knee and back were still acting up and I just didn't want to push it. I was also starting to not feel great. 

After the museum we went to Gumbo's for lunch. I had a shrimp po'boy that was yummy yummy!

When we finished lunch we headed back to the hotel. It was getting late and I wasn't feeling great. We figured we'd have a downtime afternoon. 

I got the chills a bit and decided I needed a nap. I slept a bit and then it was clear I was coming down with something. 

We ordered pizza in and watch a movie. Pizza didn't sound great - which told me I was really not feeling good. I still ate two slices, but that was because I was hungry-ish. 

Our flight is early tomorrow and it's gonna be a long flight for me. I'm ready to go home though. It's been fun Nashville.