Southern-fried Heart Attack

23 Dec 2013: Shera spent more than 2 hours in the kitchen tonight!

This week we moved our Sunday dinner to Monday, due to work-related conflicts. We still weren't able to match Jacob's schedule, but the rest of the gang was here.

Shera, who was born in and lived her whole life in the small town of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, wanted to share some of her favorite southern-style cooking with us. She called it a southern-fried heart attack, due to all the grease, breading, and carbs. But, wow, it was good! 

This was my dinner plate, clockwise from the top: fried potatoes, breaded and fried pork chops with gravy, corn bread, and macaroni-and-tomatoes (which is apparently a popular southern dish). The only thing missing from my plate is the cornmeal-breaded fried okra. My mother often prepared okra (her parents were from Oklahoma), but I never cared for it.

Ryan and Shera at dinner

We all enjoyed the meal immensely. The pork chops--and there were a lot of them--disappeared, and so did the potatoes!

Chris, Dylan, and Sarah on the other side of the dinner table

DOOR TRIMMING

My son-in-law Chris and stepson Ryan trim the trim!

Almost 2 years ago, my husband Ed installed a new front door. It's a beautiful door with a little bit of frosted glass, which he painted blue. Somehow, though, the door never got trimmed.

Ryan was saying, "I did this!"

So today, Ed's son Ryan decided it was time to finish the door. We went to Lowe's and bought the trim, then stopped by my dad and step-mom's place to borrow a skill saw. While Shera was busy cooking up a storm in the kitchen, Ryan and Chris installed the trim around the door. By the time dinner was ready, the door was finished.

I briefly thought about painting the trim blue, too, but I decided it like it better white. It makes the blue of the door stand out beautifully. Now it finally looks like a real door. Great job, guys!

The finished product. I love it!

Next project: the trim between the kitchen flooring and the living room carpet!

Snowboard Dating

Dylan and Brooke at Sunrise Park Resort this morning.

Dylan and his friend Brooke went on a date today. Not to a movie or dinner. Not to a dance or bowling alley. No, they went snowboarding!

At 7:30 this morning, I drove them to Sunrise Park Resort on the Fort Apache Reservation, about 35 miles from our house. We had a small snowstorm last night, which continued into today, so the roads were a bit icy. Snow was flying horizontally across the landscape. The drive took almost an hour each way, rather than the usual 30 minutes.

When I dropped the kids off at 8:30, it was just 22 degrees outside and the snow was getting a bit heavier. The resort is located at an altitude of 9,200 feet, but the highest peak is 11,100 feet. (Our town is at about 7,200 feet.) I reminded them both to be careful not to break any limbs or necks!

These pictures were taken within 6 miles of the ski resort. Dylan took them through the car window, trying to get a good shot of the ski runs on the 3 peaks: Sunrise Peak, Cyclone Peak, and Apache Peak. It seemed like every time he aimed the camera, a bunch of trees jumped in the way!

Brooke and Dylan get their gear out of the back of the car . . .

. . . and they head toward the 2 ski lifts.

A view of the ski lifts (left and center) and a run on the right.

I'd arranged to pick Dylan and Brooke up at 4:30, since the lifts close at 4 pm, but Dylan called at 12:30 and said, "PLEASE come pick us up! We're freezing and it's snowing really hard!" I told him it would be a while, but he said they would wait in the nice, warm lodge.

Ryan and Shera decided to ride to Sunrise with me so they could check out the resort. As a teen in Alaska, Ryan was such a great half-pipe snowboarder that he had sponsors and got his pictures in magazines. He's hoping to find a job soon so he can go snowboarding before the season ends. As he explained, there are no mountains in Missouri (where he's lived for the past 10 or 12 years) fit for snowboarding!

The Sunrise Park Ski Lodge

It was 2:00 when we finally reached the resort, but Dylan and Brooke were nowhere to be found. In true teenage fashion, as soon as they got warmed up and comfortable again, they decided to squeeze in a few more runs before we arrived! Their faces were awfully rosy from the cold when they came off the mountain!

It got so warm in the car on the ride home that everyone fell asleep except Ryan and me (thank goodness, since I was driving!). Ryan actually got cute pictures of all the sleepy heads, but I won't embarrass them by posting those!

A Christmas Tour

The Nativity I bought in Nogales, Mexico in 1987.

These past few years have been filled with so much drama and tension, I just didn't have the energy to drag out the old Christmas decorations. Now, though, there is once again peace at home, and I've truly enjoyed making the house feel festive again.

First I gathered my chosen decorations on the coffee table and decided where and how to arrange them.

The Nativities, of course, are the most important, to remind us of the reason for the season. I love the south-of-the-border flavor of my Mexican Nativity (top photo) with the distinctive blue-and-white bird motif hand-painted on each piece. 

I also love the soft colors and simplicity of the "Christmas in a Nutshell" Nativity above, featuring a walnut-shell manger and peanut people, handmade by my sister-in-law Dana. She also crocheted the dress and halo for the little clothespin angel, which I always group with this manger scene. The "Joy" piece is fairly new, but I think it sums up the entire scene nicely.

Jacob just gave me this sweet Holy Family Nativity for my birthday in September. I've been looking forward to displaying it. The metal box with the snowman scene was something I got last Christmas. There was a gift in it, but I can't even remember what it was or who it was from. I just know I loved the box and saved it to show at Christmas. The lid has a clear plastic window, and the snowman scene is painted on the inside bottom of the box. Pretty cool!

Over the years I have received a variety of little Christmas trees as gifts. I've also collected several small Christmas ring-boxes. This year, for the first time, it occurred to me that this grouping was a match made in heaven!

The lighthouse is on the shelf year-round, but I always like to give it a homey Christmas feel by adding the little snowman. I believe he was also created by my sister-in-law Dana.

Alongside the little Christmas scenes on the shelves, I also hung a few items on the walls. The little stockings were decorated by Jacob and Dylan when they were in kindergarten. Adorable!

Lastly, I do love my display of characters from the old TV special "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" and the Island of Misfit Toys. It makes me feel like a kid again. 

Back in the dark ages when our town had only 3 TV stations (47, 33, and 24) and there was no such thing as a VCR or DVD, we looked forward to the single annual showing of this program at Christmas. It was a big family event, usually with popcorn and all 5 of us kids gathered on the floor in front of the TV. Seeing these characters always takes me back to the wonder I felt as a child at Christmas time. 

I wish that same wonder for you and those you love!

Christmas Tree Redo

We finally got our Christmas tree up a week ago. It looks very nice, finally, but this year's tree was more challenging than usual.

Dylan and Jacob try to straighten the tree.

Jacob actually bought the tree for us 2 weeks ago, trimmed the bottom, and set it up in the stand with water, but it took us several days to find time to decorate it. Meanwhile, we couldn't get the tree to stand straight! Every time we readjusted it, the tree would look okay for a few hours, and then it would lean several inches forward or back. As if it were moving of its own volition!

After my stepson Ryan and his fiance Shera moved in with us on the 10th, we borrowed a neighbor's pruning shears and Ryan went to work. It took him only a matter of seconds to identify the problem: a couple of awkward branches at the bottom of the tree. He snipped them off, did one more readjustment, and the tree has been perfect ever since!

This year's selected ornaments

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, I buy each of my children a Hallmark ornament every year, and our collection has grown extensive, even after Sarah married Chris and took her ornaments with her. So we now choose our favorite ornaments to hang every Christmas rather than hanging them all.

I have my own favorites, of course. For the past 3 years I've been collecting this new series based on "The Twelve days of Christmas." So far I have a French hen, two turtledoves, and a partridge with a pear. I think they're adorable!

These are Jacob's ornaments for the past 5 years, the series called Season's Treatings. With Jacob being an avid baker, these ornaments are perfect for him!

I didn't really intend to stick with a certain theme for Dylan. Over the years I just bought ornaments that fit his interests. Then a couple of years ago it suddenly struck me that I nearly always bought him ornaments that featured snowmen, like these above and below. So now I specifically look for snowmen!

We ALWAYS put up the kids' "First Christmas" bears. Each child has the full 5-year collection, and sometimes we hang them all, but I insist on at least that very first one.

This is one of mine, but the kids insist on hanging this angel ornament every year since it has special memories. They call it the "cracker" ornament because when Jacob was small he used to think it was a cracker hung on the tree, and every day he'd cry for me to give it to him to eat!

I particularly treasure these ornaments that have two views, front and back (see the front above and the back below). They are so clever!

Finally, I love these little house ornaments. The Mickey and Minnie one has a clip on the back where you attach it to a bulb on the tree. The bulb shines through the back and makes it look like the fire in the fireplace is flickering behind Mickey and Minnie.

You might think that's the end of the story, but you'd be wrong. When we strung the lights on the tree, we found we didn't have enough lights. To save money, we'd bought the smallest tree Walmart sold (2 feet shorter than the size we usually got), so I had thought my 2 strings of lights would be enough. They weren't.

We put on the ornaments anyway, but I couldn't stand the tree having a bare bottom. So I bought one more string of lights, but the prongs on the plug didn't fit those already on the tree. In the end, Jacob bought me a whole new set of lights, but that meant undoing the whole tree and starting over. Groan . . . Thank you, Ryan, for seeing through that whole "redo" ordeal with me!

Now it feels like Christmas!

The Giving Season

BRHS Student Council at Walmart with carts full of goodies for needy families!

Throughout November and December our high school participates in several charitable fundraisers, from canned food drives to penny wars to shop-with-a-cop. I'm always so proud of the generosity and compassion displayed by our youth when the opportunities to serve others arise, even in these economically difficult times.

On Saturday our student council spent 3 hours shopping for needy local families, as well as for supplies for our district's elementary school. The results of their efforts are seen in the photo above. They took great joy in seeing not only that each family's needs were met, but also that they would receive gifts to make their holidays fun. Way to go, BRHS!

A Symphonic Orchestra Christmas

Last night we got to attend the White Mountain Symphony Orchestra's Christmas concert. It's all the more special for us because my daughter, Sarah, is a violinist with the orchestra. You can see her on the left in the photo above. She's the one with the white flower over her ear!

 

Chris and Sarah after the concert

 It was an amazing night. The orchestra gave one of their very best performances ever. And it's even better when we get to enjoy it with our family and friends. My son-in-law Chris, my son Dylan, and I were joined by my stepson Ryan, his fiance Shera, and our dear family friend Gwen. It was wonderful!

 

Ryan, Shera, Mary, Sarah, and Dylan

Along with the symphony orchestra were a variety of soloists and a choir. The highlight of the evening was a magical performance of "Away in a Manger." It was arranged by a recent graduate of Blue Ridge High School, Levi Crockett, who has a brilliant career as a musician ahead of him. Levi's sister Courtney is a friend of Dylan's. Although it's not great quality, a video of that performance is found below.

Party On, Teachers

Today our student council put on a very nice How the Grinch Stole Christmas-themed luncheon and Christmas party for us teachers.

As we entered, we were instructed to search each table to find the gift with our name on it, and that would be our place to sit. The gifts were pencils and a sticky-note pad in personalized mason jars.

I was joined by my aide, Joe, and my former aide, Kim (who is also our principal's wife). Kim now runs BRO, our online school.

Me and Joe during the luncheon.

Or, as we English teachers like to say, Joe and I...

The teachers lined up to enjoy an Italian lunch, which included lasagna, penne alfredo, and Caesar salad. Very yummy!

A live band made up of students provided music while we ate.

After lunch there was an ugly sweater contest. I didn't really think any of them were actually ugly.

The winners of the contest were Coach Bob London and his wife Denise. They won a free weekend at a resort! I think next year I'll buy myself a truly ugly sweater, just for this contest!

 

The party also included a white elephant exchange and a raffle. My ticket number was 087. Both 085 and 089 were winners (Kim was 089). Just my luck!

 

It was a great way to spend a Friday afternoon!