New Year's Eve

This is it, the last day of 2007. In a way I am very happy to put this past year behind me and forge on to a new year. I suppose I could wax poetic about everything that has happened to me this past year. Or i could just say that I didn't just survive this year, but I lived it! That is a good feeling. Although, the first part of the year was the hardest, and saddest... I went through a break-up that should not have been unexpected, but it really caught me off guard, broke my heart and changed my life. The first few days and weeks that followed were like baby steps, teetering and tottering about, falling down and trying to get back up, and man I was so scared. What could the future hold? Could God possibly see this silly sad girl and not only help her but heal her? So many uncertainties! I read yesterday on Nothing But Bonfires about how she was so scared to uproot her life, but what she found was better then what she left behind. I love what she says here and how so very true:
"The thing is, when you’re bracing against something, when you’re resisting it so hard, when your expectations of how it’s going to be are the worst you can possibly imagine: well, something happens. It’s never really that bad."

Oh the truth in that is astounding. What i was most afraid of, and what i thought was going to be the worst time of my life, turned out to be the best time of my life. Filled with happy happy moments with friends new and old and new experiences. And most importantly a time to sit with God and talk and let Him love me and take care of me. It is by His grace that I am where I am... I still have a long (very long) way to go, but the beauty of His never ending love & grace is amazing! A few verses from the Bible, that absolutely got me through the dark times were, Psalm 126 & Zephaniah 3:14-20 .
Well I made it, and I expect to make it through next year and Lord willing the next and next years. I have no New Year's Resolutions. The things I should already be doing like eating healthy and exercising more are things that i continually need to work on. But this year I hope to strive for having less and giving more. Being continually thankful and hopeful for everything God has in store for me.
Happy New Year to you All! I hope this new year finds you blessed and living life to the fullest!

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Snow Bunnies

Somehow between Friday and Last night, I was invited to a random party and somehow i agreed to go. Not that i am against a good ol' party, but this party was at a girl's house that i only somewhat knew from high school. Cindy assured me that it would be fun and that i should go. But as yesterday wore on, Cindy would call me with more details about the party, "Oh did I tell you that you are supposed to bring a white elephant gift?" Ahhh No. And then a few hours later, "Did I tell you that it was going to be a sledding party?" AHHH what? and No?

Nevertheless, I still thought it would be more fun than cleaning, and cleaning all day can get pretty old. So I met up with Cindy, Mike, Shannon, Jaime and John for dinner. We laughed, we laughed more, we had merriment and then we went to the party.

The party was a kitchen party, because for some reason the festivities were centralized to the kitchen, must be a Carver County thing. I didn't really recognize anyone but the host, Jen and that was only because i had seen a recent picture of her. She had quite the assortment of friends, very friendly, very (very) interesting. I wonder if more people recognized me then I them, because Jen was a few years younger than me in school. And typically you remember the people in the grades ahead of you then you do the grades below you. Case in point, I said my name, as just Sabrina, and this guy across the room goes, Sabrina R? and i said, "Yes that is me", (I not really sure who he was) and he just said, Nice. Which I am not entirely sure what "Nice" meant. Although, as we talked I realized that he is married to a sister of a friend from high school. But I also wonder if my reputation had also proceeded me? I wasn't a total rebel in school, but i surely was no saint. You wonder what people remember about you. I hope more good then bad???

We geared up to go sledding, walking an odd number of blocks to a church at the edge of town with a wicked good hill. We laughed, and sledded and watched the boys do crazy death defying tricks, and took swigs from the Santa flask filled with peppermint schnapps. Which was purely used medicinally as a way to keep warm.

I can't remember the last time i went sledding, but I had fun going down the hill with shannon and laughing and screaming. You forget how fun the simple pleasure of sitting on plastic, flying a million miles per hours down a steep snow covered hill. Man life is sweet.

We eventually, tired and frozen walked back to the house of the party, ate some snacks, told some stories and laughed harder and harder over silly things.

I also simultaneously at about midnight got a call from from my crazy kookie cousins kelly and kyle on their way to the casino. (How's that for alliteration?)

We talked about joining them down at "Mistake" Lake, but we were having so much fun, and plus it was almost time for the White Elephant gift exchange. There was a lot of really cool white elephant gifts and you would think maybe i could get one of them. I did have in my possession a 1977 Charlie's Angel's board game, but someone stole that from me. I ended up with a really weird object that i can't quite say for certain if it was what I thought it was, but I think I have an idea of the silliness factor. It was really weird. People are strange!! Hotpockets all of them!

All is well that ends well, around 1:30am I headed home, and when I got home at 2:00am I texted Kelly to see if they won the jackpot, her response was, "No, but hurray for vacation!"

I couldn't agree more!

Tomorrow is the last day of the year. I'm sure i will be in hardcore reflection mode, so be prepared for some deep thoughts from Sabrina.

Best wishes to everyone, Happy New Year!

The Bed.

Today I am spending the day giving my place a much needed cleaning. Dust bunnies have taken over and they are multiplying, and i thought only live bunnies had littlens' like mad rabbits. My cleaning techniques are funny. I don't set to a task, go hard or go home until it is done. I am more of a leisurely cleaner. I am like that with a lot of things in my life, namely because I am not the most ambitious person in the world, and I like to take my time. So cleaning starts at 0ne end of my home, sweeping here, organizing there, and then I sit and watch some food network television. Then I get up and move to another room, do as much cleaning as i feel like, then I head back to the couch and watch a movie. That is cleaning day for me. I do eventually get the whole place clean, but it may take all day, where as another person it might take an hour. But that is me, take me as I am.

As I was straitening my bedroom and making my bed, I thought about something Kelly was saying the other night. Basically, how as children and teenagers our beds are our central piece of furniture. There we do everything! Read, play, watch tv, do our homework, talk on the phone, and of course sit with all your friends. Your bed is your personal mecca of everyday life. We were saying that imagine now, if you went over to a friends house and they took you strait to their room, closed the door and you flopped down on their bed and shared your deepest and most appalling secrets? It just doesn't happen. Even when I am alone I only use my bed for sleeping and maybe reading right before sleep. It is funny how when you upgrade to couches and chairs, the bed loses its #1 spot for living and socializing. However, my bed has not lost the #1 spot in my heart, as far as furniture goes, no other place in my home is as kind and forgiving as my bed, all nice and cozy, inviting me in each night to sleep and dream and put the long day behind me. Ahhhhh.....

Last night i saw the movie Atonement with Ellen. I had started to read the book before the movie came out, but during the Christmas season I had put is aside. I'm glad I only read the first chapter, because I was very surprised at how the movie ended. Atonement was beautiful and sad at the same time. I would definitely recommend it to see, then read the book.

Well off i go to clean some more, only my kitchen remains, and dauntingly, that is the grungiest room in my place, next to my bathroom, which ooops, I guess I have to clean that too and this is a really long run-on sentence. Happy Almost New Year.

Bonxai!

For a couple of weeks now, My cousin Kelly and i were very excited to take out our friend Heather for the night. She was Kelly's friend first, but I think I am ready to say she is my friend now too! Heather is a great gal and I wonderful mommy to 2 ADORABLE little boys, Miles and Asher. So we thought it would be fun to get Heather out of the house for a night. WE met up at Cafe Bonxai, a nice Asian-Fusion restaurant on University Ave. Kelly's BFF Sarah also joined us, and she never fails to totally crack me up. Our plan was to go eat and then a movie. We made it through dinner, and were about to see the movie, when Heather says, "I have some scary and sad news to tell you." I was thinking the worst, but really she couldn't join us for the movie, because her kids were coming down from their Christmas high and her husband Ryan had to catch them. :) So we of course were disappointed, because we like you Heather! and I was really only mad at your for maybe 10 seconds! :) Next Time!

So just Kelly and I went and saw the movie Juno. I had seen it already, but not Kelly and she loved it! Honestly, I think it was funnier the second time! Oh and let me back up, while we were standing in line to get tickets, Kelly says, "Do you want to go to a 24 Walmart after the movie?" Heck Yeah my Cuz! So after the movie we made a trip to the Eagan Walmart. There we got lost in rows and rows of discounted Christmas decor. At one point Kelly fell madly in love with a deluxe makeup set. You know those huge boxes of every eyeshadow, blush, lipstick, nail polish under the sun. It looked so tempting that i put one in the cart too... until we realized, we probably didn't need another 50 eyeshadow combos. I did however get a whole set of fun wrapping paper and my next year's Christmas cards all for 50% off! It was fun, and the best part is, we both didn't have to work in the morning, so we could browse to our little hearts content into the wee hours of the night. Fun Times!

Hair and Pumpkins and Mraz, Oh My!

Breaking news! My cousin Chad and his wife Kristi are going to have a baby!! Whoo Hoo!!! My Cousin Kelly explains the situation best in her blog here.

So I made the grown up step and got my hair cut last Saturday. Along with a much need color upgrade. Auburn with red highlights... I am missing my long hair, but I love how healthy and shiny my new hair-do is. I don't think I honestly could go any shorter. I had thought deeply about getting the Katie Holmes hair-do, not the newest one with the bangs but the one before that with side-swept bangs... Instead I went 6 inches shorter, and I still have shoulder length hair. It's not as curly as it is when it is long... I miss that too. But I do like it, for now, but I think it needs to grow out more. New Year, New Hair! :)

Anyway, one of my favorite gifts, and there were many, was a total surprise gift from my cousin Kelly. I had seen this totally cute soup tourine and bowls in the shape of pumpkins at Z-Gallerie but they were way out of my price range. Happily, Kelly had found a similar set on QVC! I just love it and i can't wait to make some pumpkin soup and have some friends over to share in the goodness.

And on a final note, I wanted to share a quote with you from the wonderful Jason Mraz. If you haven't heard of him or his music, it is a must, especially his live cd! I was reading his blog last night and he had this great quote about the new year, about living life to the fullest. This is exactly what i was thinking for awhile, but didn't know how to express it. Mr. A-Z says it best and this is my New Year's resolution:

"Another year is fast approaching. Go be that starving Artist you’re afraid to be. Open up that journal and get poetic finally. Volunteer. Suck it up and travel. You were not born here to work and pay taxes. You were put here to be part of a vast organism to explore and create. Stop putting it off. The world has much more to offer than what’s on 15 televisions at TGI Fridays. Take pictures. Scare people. Shake up the scene. Be the change you want to see in the world."

Merry Christmas!

My Christmas day goes a little something like this: Me running across the snow in my party dress to the barn to shut off the electric fence so my cousin Kyle can go out and shoot a pheasant. As I walked back from the barn, with the snow falling down, I had to stop and laugh, thankful for the moments of sheer randomness of family and the beauty of this day.

The night before I had Christmas Eve at my parents house, and my aunt and uncle came over for dinner and gifts.Later that night Kelly and Kyle came over to crash so they could just be here for the festivities the next day. Christmas morning, Kyle's wish was to go out and shoot some clay pigeons, and of course he would need a launcher: ME! So we bundle up and made our way through the snow, me with a shot gun and Kyle with a box of clay pigeons. We walked through the fields over snow drifts and past the woods to reach the edge of my parents property. There, I shot a few and Kyle shot the rest. And due to my lack of proper wrist snap, I couldn't get the darn pigeons launched. So in my sabrina fashioned way, I launched them by hand. It was fun. But some day I will get the launching technique down. Later that day Kelly and I got the meal ready and our family showed up and we all had fun... until, Kyle spotted a pheasant and ran outside to get his gun and i ran to the barn to shut off the fence. And thus i am back to the beginning of my story. Christmas always seems to go as fast as it comes, and this year was no exception. I had a great time with my mom and dad, opening gifts and watching my brother get excited over all his movies he received. I am thankful over and over for my family for the joy they bring to my life, and thankful for their health and safety!

God is good, and that is why we celebrate! He is good because he loves us enough to send his son Jesus! Amen!

And on another festive fun note, Sunday night I got together with some of my favorite gal pals. We had talked about it all week, but once Sunday arrived, along with the snow, I thought twice about my original plan. My friend Cindy, who lives in Chaska, was going to have me, Shannon and Jaime over for one last hurrah before Christmas... we would all crash at her place and then Christmas Eve day head off to our respective families. Well Sunday it started to snow, not a little, but a lot. The thing is, I do not like to drive in bad weather, it makes me nervous and anxious, and i really don't like being either. However, after I talked with Cindy and assessed the roads (not great) I said, screw it, you only live once. So I bundled up in boots and hat and mittens, with survival gear intact and headed out to Chaska. Which from St. Paul on average in about a half an hour drive. I just went nice and slow, and in about an hour, I made it safe and sound to Cindy's! Yeah! I did it! :) We had a great night of laughs and silliness, wine and Pinocchio and merriment. I'm glad I went, you can't beat a fun night with your good friends! Cheers!

P.S. I cut my hair off... not all of it, but about 6 inches! which for me is pretty drastic! I love having really long hair, but sometimes change is good! I will post a pic, when I get a good one... New Year, New Hair!

Christmas Slideshow

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope your day is not only Merry and Bright, but filled with Peace and Joy as you celebrate with your loved ones. Repeat the Sounding Joy, Jesus is born!!! Blessings to you!

December 24, 2007

The Babe in the Manger... Immanuel!

Christmas Pasta!!!

Back in October, my cousin Kelly found this really cool multi-colored pasta. It was a fun mix of green, red, gold, black and orange. Kelly separated the orange and black from the other colors and made some Halloween Pasta. Then she bagged up the rest of the pasta and handed it to me with a mission and said, "Make some Christmas Pasta with this." Fast forward to December, with all the hustle and bustle of the season I had completely forgotten to make the Christmas Pasta. As I was cleaning out my pantry today, I found the bag of Christmas Color Pasta tucked way in the back of the shelf. Sadly, the pasta was curled up, whimpering and crying big rain drop tears... they looked up at me with sad eyes and said, "You forgot about us!" My heart melted and I said, "Never fear green, gold and red pasta, your time has now come!"

And so I present my Christmas Pasta, along with Mr. Herb Tomato and Mrs. Artichoke Heart and their children, onion, garlic and red pepper flake. Ta-da!

December 23, 2007

Fantastic Family!

December 22, 2007

Good Friends!

December 21, 2007

My Favorite Christmas Lights House

Go Bananas!!!

I am on my way to a 2 week vacation! I am so excited I can hardly contain myself!!!
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!!
Much Love,
sabrina

Hardcore Turducken

Have you heard of the Turducken? It is a chicken stuffed into a duck then stuffed into a turkey. Baked and viola; a turducken. I have never personally eaten one, it sounds very interesting. I love duck meat so that is a plus, but if you're not a fan of the duck, it might not be your bag.

However, I just read this article that takes this concept of turducken to a whole nother level (say it kelly!)

December 20, 2007

Christmas Carols

Me? Excited?

I'm so excited I could burst! Way to go Goose!!! Now you are going to have a Gosling. Hopefully as cute if not cuter than a female version of Ryan Gosling!

Hyper-Spaz Links?

This is an experiment: If you click on this does it take you to the website anthropologie? If it does please respond with a cry of MEOW!
Ok... so now i am going to blog for real. All my postings as of late have been about all the goings ons in my life. Today I as just at work, last night i was just at home chillin', it was nice!
I felt sleepy all day. And on my lunch break I went to caribou coffee and got some minty mocha thing. I am buggin' now... meaning I can't have caffeine cause it makes me looney tunes. Usually I ask for half-caf. I forgot today. My cousin and I have this joke about my mom and coffee. Anytime we talk about having coffee, we say, "Is it decaf?" because my mom always asks that at family get-togethers. Now if one person can't have caffeine its my mom! she gets looney to the max. Just ask my brother about the time we were watching Misery and my mom had a spaz attack. It was funny. I'm writing this, not because I am making fun of my mom, but I'm about ready to have a spaz attack from all the caffeine i drank today. Ok I gotta go... I can't concentrate. SPAZ ATTACK!

December 19, 2007

Dayton's (Macys) Annual 8th Floor Holiday Display

(Every November for the last four decades, the downtown Minneapolis store on Nicollet between 7th and 8th Streets that was long known as Dayton's, and is now Macy's, has put up an animated exhibit/mechanical holiday display in its eighth floor auditorium. Each year the exhibit features scenes from a popular children's story: The Wind in the Willows was one year; Santa Bear another; Harry Potter another. Some stories repeat for a new generation of children. The displays are designed to delight and entertain young children, from those in strollers to those learning to puzzle out the words on the panels for themselves.)

December 18, 2007

Merry Christmas Wreath

INFP, Me, Mary mother of our Saviour and E.T.

INFP

you can see what you are at http://similarminds.com/jung.html

Profile by David Keirsey
INFPs present a calm, pleasant face to the world and are seen as reticent and even shy. Although they demonstrate a cool reserve toward others, inside they are anything but distant. They have a capacity for caring which is not always found in other types. They care deeply-indeed, passionately-about a few special persons or a cause. One word that captures this type is idealistic. At times, this characteristic leaves them feeling isolated, especially since INFPs are found in only 1 percent of the general population. INFPs seek unity in their lives, unity of body and mind, emotions and intellect. They often have a subtle tragic motif running through their lives, but others seldom detect this inner minor key. The deep commitment of INFPs to the positive and the good causes them to be alert to the negative and the evil, which can take the form of a fascination with the profane. Thus INFPs may live a paradox, drawn toward purity and unity but looking over the shoulder toward the sullied and desecrated. When INFPs believe that they have yielded to an impure temptation, they may be given to acts of self-sacrifice in atonement. The atonement, however, is within the INFP, who does not feel compelled to make public the issue.
INFPs prefer the valuing process over the purely logical. They respond to the beautiful versus the ugly, the good versus the bad, and the moral versus the immoral. Impressions are gained in a fluid, global, diffused way. Metaphors and similes come naturally but may be strained. INFPs have a gift for interpreting symbols, as well as creating them, and thus often write in lyric fashion. They may demonstrate a tendency to take deliberate liberties with logic. Unlike the NT, they see logic as something optional. INFPs also may, at times, assume an unwarranted familiarity with a domain, because their global, impressionistic way of dealing with reality may have failed to register a sufficient number of details for mastery. INFPs may have difficulty thinking in terms of a conditional framework; they see things as either real or fancied, and are impatient with the hypothetical.

INFP Strengths
Most INFPs will exhibit the following strengths with regards to relationship issues:
Warmly concerned and caring towards others
Sensitive and perceptive about what others are feeling
Loyal and committed - they want lifelong relationships
Deep capacity for love and caring
Driven to meet other's needs
Strive for "win-win" situations
Nurturing, supportive and encouraging
Likely to recognize and appreciate other's need for space
Able to express themselves well
Flexible and diverse

INFP Weaknesses
Most INFPs will exhibit the following weaknesses with regards to relationship issues:
May tend to be shy and reserved
Don't like to have their "space" invaded
Extreme dislike of conflict
Extreme dislike of criticism
Strong need to receive praise and positive affirmation
May react very emotionally to stressful situations
Have difficulty leaving a bad relationship
Have difficulty scolding or punishing others
Tend to be reserved about expressing their feelings
Perfectionistic tendancies may cause them to not give themselves enough credit
Tendency to blame themselves for problems, and hold everything on their own shoulders

December 17, 2007

Presents under the tree...

Finally!

I have been wanting to post something I have been working on for the past 5 days! But I had to keep it a secret until everything was finished and given away. I had this idea back in September to make a gift for my different groups of friends. I have the Monday night group, the Thursday night group, the high school friend group... just lots of groups. So I thought, what would be something simple to make for my friends, that would be fun, but sweet. Enter: CUPCAKES! I found these great Martha Stewart cupcake holders on clearance at Micheal's, so all i needed to do now was make the cupcakes. I decided on Butter Cake with Fudge Frosting, Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Frosting and Chocolate cake with Cream Cheese frosting. Everyone got two of each flavor... fun and easy and sweet!

Also tonight, my Monday night ladies got together for a Christmas dinner. Megan got out her fun Christmas dishes and we all shared a perfect meal of Hoisin Pork Loin, Green Beans, Orzo and French Bread. Along with yummy appetizers and delicious brownies. Megan graciously let me use her fancy crock-pot for the pork. My crock pot only sets high or low, while hers you can set to different cooking times, and then it turns to warm all on its own when the allotted time is up. I used a Rachael Ray recipe for the pork... so simple and easy. The meal was wonderful and it was great to sit and chat with some of my favorite girls! Merry Christmas!

Hoisin Pork Loin

serves 6
Ingredients:
3lbs pork loin boneless
1 jar hoisin sauce (3/4 cup )
3 clove garlic smashed
2 tablespoons ginger -- grated fresh
1 tablespoons chili paste
1 tablespoons rice wine or rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
4 teaspoons cornstarch
2 scallions -- white and green parts only sliced on an angle
1/3 cup cilantro -- chopped *(i didn't use these in my meal)

Put the pork loin in the slow cooker. Mix hoisin sauce, garlic cloves, ginger, rice wine, soy sauce and sesame oil. Whisk in corn starch then pour over pork. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Remove pork and let rest for 10 minutes. Pour cooking liquid into a bowl and let stand for 10 minutes. Skim any fat from the sauce.Slice the pork and arrange on a platter. Sprinkle the scallions and cilantro on top. Serve the Asian sauce on the side.

Santa's Workshop

Today my cousin Kelly hosted a Santa's Workshop Wrapping and Cookie Exchange Party! Kelly went all out with treats and wrapping paper for everyone.

There was a great mix of women there, and we had fun chatting and eyeing each other's gifts! We also did a cookie exchange where everyone brought 2 dozen cookies to swap. Everyone brought great cookies to share, now i have a super great variety!

I made one of my favorite childhood cookies, Melting Moments, with pink and green frosting. Melting Moments are exactly what their name is, they melt in your mouth in a moment.

As a joke I also made Kelly mini bundt cakes. We were talking the other day, while I was making cupcakes, and she said, "are you making a dozen cupcakes for the party?" Of course I wasn't, but we joked about someone bringing 2 dozen bundt cakes to pass around! I had so much fun laughing and joking around with the ladies at the party, including Kelly's pastor of her church, Pastor Anne. I think if more churches had pastors like Anne, more people would probably go! She is a wonderful lady, with a great sense of humor. Kelly's BFF Sarah was also there, and that girl is a hoot! She has forever and always cracked me up! Today was no different! I can't wait to see what shenanigans she has planned for the following week... rumor has it that there is some sort of "game night" in the works, with lots of mixing and mingling! Good Times!

Melting Moments
makes 2 dozen
INGREDIENTS
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup butter

FROSTING
INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup butter
4 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

COOKIE DIRECTIONS
Combine dry ingredients. Cream butter until fluffy. Add to flour mixture and beat thoroughly.
Refrigerate 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Place about 1 1/2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten with lightly floured fork. Bake for about 20 minutes or until edges are just lightly browned. Don't overbake.

FROSTING DIRECTIONS
In a bowl beat butter or margarine until fluffy. Gradually add 2 cups of the confectioners' sugar, beating well. Slowly beat in the 1/4 milk and vanilla. Slowly beat in remaining sugar. Beat in additional milk, if needed, to make of spreading consistency. Tint with food color, if desired.

(are you happy heather! blog slack! whatevs!) :)

December 16, 2007

Christmas Cookie Exchange!

Europe 04'

My friend Liz posted some pictures on Facebook of her time in Europe. She lived in Sevilla, Spain for a semester. At the end of the semester I flew to Spain to visit and do some traveling. We spent a few weeks backpacking through Spain, Italy and France. It was such a perfect time, everything was beautiful and inspiring, I didn't want to leave. Sometimes I still think about moving to Europe for awhile. Well, back then when I was a SLR Camera snob, I wouldn't even dream of taking photos with a digital camera! And although I did get some great shots with my good ol' regular film camera, I can't post them for the world to see. So I rely on Liz so I can *steal* her pictures for my blog. Thanks Liz! It's so gray and bleak on this December day, so here are Europe pics so we can all dream about escaping... even if its just for a few seconds.

Sabrina 1, Santa 0!

Oh the days are full of mixing and mingling... and some ring-ting tinagaling! Thursday night i got together with my usual Thursday night group. We exchanged gifts and laughed over pizza and had a good ol' time! Friday after work, I headed over to Shannon's house for our Christmas party in Buffalo night! We had been planning this night since the beginning of November, so the anticipation was high. I made a doubled recipe of spinach artichoke dip and my most favorite cream cheese\ham\pickle roll-ups! Yummmmm! I arrived first, so Shannon and i chatted and prepared snacks until Cindy and Jaime arrived. At one point Shannon and i went outside, so she could light her big Santa Claus on her front steps. She plugged it in and nothing! So we figured, Santa must be out of order. We were goofing around, shaking Santa up a bit and poof, a flicker of light! Shannan then had the bright idea that if she were to hold it, I would give it a *little* kick and maybe Santa would stay lit. I excitedly pulled my foot back and piled drived it into Santa's bowl ful of jelly... POW! And with everything Santa had, he gave one last burst of light and POP! The light bulb blew up! Ooops! I guess I won! Sorry Santa Baby! Soon Jaime and Cindy arrived, we ate and drank wine and laughed until our sides hurt! We sang a heart warming rendition of Dolly Pardon's Hard Candy Christmas and made A LOT of fun of Trans Siberian Orchestra! We were just a bunch of small town girls having some big time laughs! Later we *tried* to watch Irving Berlin's White Christmas... Cindy and I sang almost every song, Jaime fell asleep and every few songs we would shake her awake exclaiming "Wake up Jaime! You gotta watch this one last song and dance number!!!" she never woke up... soon before we knew it, in the wee hours of the night we had all fallen fast asleep. Oh what fun we had! Before we knew it we were all laying there, strewn across the floor and couch, and it was 6:00am... we started chatting and laughing, eating and sharing tales of long long ago. We did this until about 9:00 until we parted ways and went back to sleep. Now i am up, ready to have a nice leisurely day of baking cookies and having a day all to myself. I think I still have a side ache from laughing so hard... Friends+Laughter=Priceless!! MEOW!

December 15, 2007

Jolly Ol' St. Nick