Thoughts on Turkey…

Because this time of year is so grand—I ADORE the Fall transitioning into Christmas season—and because just the sound of the lovely word “Thanksgiving”  is so pleasant, I mean “thanks” plus “giving”, what could be better??  Because good memories are hopefully bounteous during this cozy and turkey-infused time, I thought I would share some of my favorite turkey time tidbits from days gone by…

** The year that my wonderful Grampa Len began the Thanksgiving dinner blessing on the splendid meal (cute Grampa was such a wonderful example of good cheer, graciousness, gratitude, and was not known for brief prayers) and I realized mid-prayer that I should of used the restroom pre-prayer.  In my 7-year-old brain, I thought that if I was really, really quiet and very, very soft on my feet, I could simply slip away from the table and make it back in time for “amen”—didn’t quite work out as seamlessly as I thought it could…

**My freshman year in college when it had been nearly 3 long months since I had been home—and I was very ready to go home –I was greeted at the ginormous Tri-Cities International Airport by my whole fam and my super friend, Emily, with happy faces and a big “welcome home” poster!  Aww, so sweet and so fun!!  My room at home was still my room and it was even decorated extra-special for my arrival—good times…

**My junior year in college when two of my dear cousins and I drove from Logan to Seattle, where about 20 miles from my parents’ house, my cousin got pulled over, and somehow managed to not only avoid a speeding ticket but to get us a police escort to make sure we were on the right route  to the smaller highway because it can be tricky to get around in the dark!  (On a more personal note, the very few officers I have encountered upon being pulled over have not been nearly so friendly or helpful.)  The next morning, my cousin, who shall be nameless, accompanied me to the local Safeway for me to pick up a few things for my mom, and for him to pick up some black hair dye for himself in an attempt to counteract the orange hair that he was sporting (it was supposed to be subtle blonde).  I got my items and he, of course, had made his deliberate selection.  We got to the check-out counter and he gave me some money and asked me to just get his special item with my goods.  I thought this would be no skin off my nose (that actually sounds mildly disturbing) until he started in with the cashier about “you know girls and all their hair products”—wait a sec, was he speaking of me and his ebony hair tonic??  Wow, I could have made more than one snide remark about authentic and natural tones and highlights, but I took the high road, the one it seems I’ve veered off of here…

Good times, great company, terrific turkey, sweet memories, and always so much to be thankful for.  Happy Thanksgiving!!

Tis the Season to be Smu-ug…

So the fella in the shorts is feeling pleasantly smug because he made the good call of getting the Christmas lights strung on the house last Saturday…

And the little corduroy jacket-clad fella is also feeling seriously smug because this Saturday brought to him a winter wonderland!!

I know nothing of the smugness felt  at this particular residence, and I just can’t quite figure out how this scenerio came to be (we were on our way to our nephew’s championship football game and this sight most certainly caught my eye) –it looks like one those insurance commercials where the devastation happens and then it all rewinds back to normal, unfortunately the memo for the “return to normal” part was not received here.  Did the RV run into the fence and then back through the wall with the fence still attached and decide to call it a day??  Wow, sorry there guys…

And hey—the mom is the smug one here because not only did I get to pick Gretel’s hair, but she even let it stay that way and I bet she’d yodel for me if I asked her—hmm, and now I want a mug of Swiss Miss…

My {Attempted} PW Encounter…

So a little over a month ago, I was perusing one of my fave online destinations,  www.thepioneerwoman.com, when I discovered that not only had she completed her fantastic/delicious/wonderful/pretty cookbook, but that she would be coming to an AREA NEAR ME as part of her semi-cross-country book tour!!  It has been on my calendar  ever since, and when my 2 elementary school girls came home with appointments for parent/teacher nite at the exact same time, I did something I’ve never ever done before—I rescheduled!!

Mr. Goff so graciously consented to accompany me to the PW meet and greet that was scheduled to commence at 7:00 pm.  We arrived in the 6:40 pm ballpark to be among the hordes, yes hordes, of nice great-recipe-loving ladies that all wanted to say hello to Pioneer Woman Ree.   I thought “the event” may be a little nuts, but when Paul dropped me off to secure a place in line and the book store lady said that she was sorry that their 700 tickets to get your book autographed had already been distributed so the best we could do would be to maybe wait until all of those with tickets (apparently people began lining up at 3:00—wow) had been taken care of and if there was still time…  yeah, not looking real good.

They had moved things down to a fancy schmancy art gallery (bummer for the many ladies there with little bubs) with many fancy schmancy/ breakable items.  Paul went over to the bookstore and purchased an already signed (good call)  cookbook and just as he got back, the bookstore lady at the door let 21 more people in to hear the witty Pioneer Woman tell her tales.  People inside were laughing and having the best time—I was #22, so at the door I stayed.  Then it was time for the changing of the guard and new short-hair bookstore girl came to be the guardian of the doorway and could not have been more thoroughly annoyed that SO MANY people came out to see a gal that lives on a cattle ranch in Oklahoma that did a cookbook.   It must be hard to be a literary purist…

After about 6 people had exited the gallery for various reasons, literary girl gave me the nod to go ahead and step in (Paul opted to stay out, there was definitely more breathing room outside)—people were still laughing, all I heard was something about her brother liking being in a room full of women looking at him, and her wearing her spanx when someone hugged her and told her she felt so tight and she said “thank you!!”

Even though the evening did not go quite how I was thinking, it was grand to get to be out and about with my ever-gracious and favorite Paul, who has already benefitted immensely from the purchase of this fantastic cookbook!!  I do highly recommend “The Pioneer Woman Cooks,” and for the record, chocolate sheet cake is always in season…