Christmas, Like a Boss!

I can’t imagine a December that isn’t stressful, but overall, this year was pretty good. Here’s (mostly food) highlights from Christmas and the end of the year.

Before my Winter Guard girls got out of school for the holiday, we held a Christmas party, complete with secret Santa. Everyone had so much fun. Presents, food, and our own special entertainment (thanks to fearless guard members) finished out the night and started the holiday season off right.

Christmas with Momma and her family always includes this yumminess:

Sausage & Wild Rice Stuffing

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Sausage and Wild Rice Stuffing. This stuff absolutely makes Christmas worth it. Too bad the internet doesn’t have smell-o-vision or you’d be drooling and jealous.

Additionally, as a Christmas favorite, we had a beautiful, tasty red velvet cake. My momma is such a good cook!

Red.Velvet.Yummy.Yummy.Yummy.Cake

Hot Apple Cider

It also wouldn’t have been Christmas without the annual Day-of-Christmas Breakfast-for-Dinner meal at my extended family’s house. My favorite part about this tradition, besides the bacon, eggs, grits and biscuits is the homemade apple cider that never seems to run out. It’s like manna, but in liquid form, and instead of it being from God, it’s from Mrs. Bobbie. But who’s counting differences?

Hot Apple Cider

Finally, 2012 is looking seriously better than 2011 was. If nothing else, that is something to be thankful for. What about you? Are you starting the new year with a fresh perspective? What makes the holidays special around your house?

Happy 2012

Winding Down 2011

Holy time travel Batman! It’s been ages since I’ve updated and even longer since I wrote something of substance. This whole time I’ve been chugging along, just going about my business and then I look up and BAM! It’s December 15. So, while I may not have much of worth to post, it seems as good a day as any to try to get back on this wagon of mine.

So here’s what’s been going on my life recently: to start with today would have been my grandmother’s birthday. Today, I’ve tried (and failed) to not think about how much I miss her by staying busy. While she was alive, she was a force of nature. When she made her mind up to do something, by God, it was going to get done. Stubborn, hardworking and able to overcome almost anything life put in front of her, she was my role model. It’s been nine months since she died and not a day goes by that I don’t think of her. The Bible says be thankful in all things and since staying busy hasn’t really worked, for the rest of the night, I’m going to be thankful for all the wonderful ways my grandmother enriched and improved my life.

In other news, the Winter Guard season is in full swing! We have nine hours (total) of practice a week on Tues/Sat and our show is slowly but surely coming together. So far, I’ve enjoyed WG much more than I did Fall Guard. For one, the girls in our WG group actually care about doing well. Secondly, they are much more focused on the show, work and overall performance than they are the drama and BS that usually plagues fall guards. Another interesting thing is the way my role has changed since I started “teaching” in July. At first I focused on things like marching and posture, I pointed out where things were obviously wrong or there were spacing problems. This Winter Guard season, however, I’ve been able to grow as an instructor. Now I work on perfecting technique, the way the work flows on the floor and make more creative decisions. It has been an absolutely amazing experience to be able to grow and learn right along with our wonderful guard girls.

One final thing, but only a sneak peek of things to come. I can’t say much except that my 45 minute commute to work may be much much shorter by the New Year.

Happy Thursday Everyone! I’ll leave you with one of my favorite shows (Community) and characters (Abed) acting out different personas. It is AMAZING!

http://community101.tumblr.com/post/4106280990/abed-as-don-draper-community-1-17

Better than Words

I’ve been trying, but I still can’t seem to find any time to write. At my last job, I had to work to appear busy at times and this blog helped with that. At this office, there are slow times for sure, but most often, we are going full-out and I bust it to get my work done. I’m not saying this is bad at all, just that I’ve changed my self-imposed publishing deadline to a more realistic two posts a month. At least until work settles down a little bit.

Speaking of my 9-5 which is actually more like 8-6, it has already proven to be such a learning experience. I can truthfully say it’s nothing like Mad Men –which I was hoping for in my heart of hearts–but I’m leaning toward that being a good thing. I feel like I’m finally coming into my role in the office structure and that I have a better grasp of the brand and image the doctors want promoted. I’m even getting business cards!

The high school football season is halfway over and we’re coming up against this struggle against complacency (which happens every year at some point). The whole show is done and we’re starting to get down to correcting small things–hand positions, flag angles, and field presence, if you were wondering–for the most part. But now that the girls have learned the routines, it becomes a fight to stay focused. Any athlete, musician or politician will tell you that if you run routes, practice scales or lie convincingly enough that it becomes muscle memory. Just like the drive home from work, you do it five days a week and at some point you quit remembering what the drive was like. We practice so hard for it to become second nature, and then we push to make sure that they are performing the routines and not just going through the motions.

I’ll leave you with some pictures, as they often tell a better story than I ever could.

I was cleaning limbs up from my yard the other day. Apparently Roxie thought it was an epic game of tug-of-war. I quit after this limb.

Side Yard Flowers

These flowers are all over my yard. I have no idea where they come from, but I really like them.

My birthday present in all it’s glory. I can’t wait for it to get colder!!

I took this picture a week ago. This is in Alberta, the large area of dirt used to be an O’Reilly’s and an apartment building I spent many many nights in. Seeing my city so bare still gets to me.

Fall is my favorite time of year for many reasons. Awesome sunsets like these are just one reason. Look at the colors, the fog, the open field. Every time I see it, I can’t stop from imagining Confederate soldiers carrying rifles, emerging through the fog on their way to battle.

These boys are amazing and have kept me sane the past few weeks. I couldn’t help but add them!

So what’s up with you? I can’t be the only one who’s gone through massive change in the past couple of months.

As Country as Kudzu

You can’t live in the South for too long without coming to an opinion on Kudzu. Most people hate the plant. It grows like crazy (up to an inch and a half a day), doesn’t need to be watered or tended, could grow on a cinder block by itself and generally takes over everything it touches.

Kudzu, brought from Japan by the US Corps of Engineers, was meant to be a super vine for most climates that protected from erosion. And it did, very well. Until it started spreading and got out of hand. Now it’s a farmer’s bane and a city planner’s nightmare.

Drive through the South–even a little bit–and you’re bound to see what I’m talking about. It’s pretty much everywhere. On hillsides, to the tops of telephone and electrical lines, swallowing whole houses. Stand still too long in Dixie and you might find a vine creeping up your leg. Not that it needed any help, but Kudzu seems to thrive in the rich soil and humid temperatures of the south. It could practically be our state flower.

Personally, I like Kudzu. And even though it hails from Japan originally, there is something uniquely Southern about it, in my opinion. It doesn’t need favorable conditions to grow. It survives and thrives even in the worst conditions. It has beaten weather, adversity and more than one poor soul who thought he could bend it to his will for more than a century. It can’t be tamed and doesn’t need help getting things done. Now tell me, doesn’t that sound like the best qualities of those raised below the Mason-Dixon line?

In honor of Kudzu and my Southern heritage, here is a recipe that sounds pretty delicious. If you’re anything like me, the Kudzu will the be easiest thing to get.

Rolled Kudzu Leaves

Kudzu Leaves
1 can diced tomatoes
2 teaspoons salt
3 cloves garlic, cut in half
Juice of 3 lemons
Bacon Grease (optional)

Stuffing ingredients: 1 cup rice, rinsed in water
1 pound ground lamb or lean beef
1 cup canned diced tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon of allspice
Salt and Pepper to taste

Gather about 30 medium-sized young kudzu leaves. Make sure area has not been sprayed with chemicals to kill the Kudzu.

Wash leaves. Drop into salted boiling water. Boil a 2-3 minutes, separating leaves. Remove to a plate to cool. Remove heavy center stems from the leaves by using a knife and cutting down each side of the stem to about the middle of the leaf. Combine all stuffing ingredients and mix well.

Push cut sides together and fill with 1 teaspoon stuffing and roll in the shape of a cigar. Place something in bottom of a large pan so that rolled leaves will not sit directly on the bottom of the pan. Bacon grease is great for seasoning.

Arrange Kudzu rolls alternately in opposite directions. When all are in the pot, pour in a can diced tomatoes, 2 teaspoons of salt, and 3 cloves of garlic, cut in half. Press down with an inverted dish and add water to reach dish. Cover pot and cook on medium for 30 minutes. Add lemon juice and cook 10 minutes more.

Let the countdown BEGIN!

The fourteen fabulous days of September started yesterday and along with, the countdown to my birthday. This year, I’ve decided to do/wear/be something fierce in the fourteen days leading up to the celebration of my birthday. So, yesterday, for instance I chose to wear these shoes (sort of, mine have a silver strap and aren’t slingbacks). Today, the fabulosity continues with Chipotle for lunch and band for dinner.

Birthdays are a big deal to me. Unlike Mr. Draper…
(sorry for the bad quality video)
Especially my birthday. I’m crazy-go-nuts for it. The internal countdown to my birthday is much longer than I’d ever like to admit. And like every thing else, I use food as a barometer. Or more accurately, expiration dates. I first start my birthday countdown when nonperishable items–like canned food–have expiration dates at or on my birthday. From there, we move on to long-lasting perishables, such as cheezits and hamburger helper. Things really start getting exciting when we hit the two-week mark…that means I’m in the bread and milk zone. The fever pitch (and usually the external countdown) happens up until the day of and leaves me looking at Gigi’s cupcakes and opened saltines for my expiration fascination. Please tell me I’m not the only freak out there that does this?!

The reason I like birthdays so much? It’s the one day a year that people celebrate you. Not only do they celebrate you, they celebrate the fact that you’re on this earth, taking up air they could be breathing and asking them stupid questions when they could be doing other things. It’s a yearly reminder that you matter, that other people recognize your existence. It means that just once, you’ll be noticed in a way that’s special and unique. That’s why birthdays are so important to me. It’s not about the presents or cake, although I have to say, I do love me some cake. It’s about celebrating life. And, this year especially, that is definitely worth celebrating.