'Twas the Day After Christmas

and all through the house, there are boxes and paper, and dirty dishes, and enough goodies from my stocking to add five more pounds!  And I couldn't be happier!  Charleigh-Girl and I got to sleep as late as we pleased this morning for the first time in a month, I think.  It wasn't too late, however, as we had fallen into bed exhausted before 10:00 last night!  Yes, she was exhausted, too. 

I had six parties this year.  (I think I'm one shy of last year.)  The first was my Bible Study Fellowship group on December 5th.  We had 13 here for a blessed day.

The next was my Sunday School class.  We had lots of food to share, and we filled boxes with cookies and candy for the block we have adopted in E. Arlington, where our church is beginning a new campus.  There were 20 of us here for that party.  The first pic features our beloved teacher, Debra Permenter.

The "organization" of our assembling was similar to that of the Keystone Cops!  But we got it done!

Here's the only picture I took of us delivering the boxes and caroling on December 19th.  It was perhaps more of a blessing to us than to the recipients.

Then I invited my FOLS (that's friends of longest standing in lieu of old) for lunch.  We usually have lunch at the Rose Garden Tearoom once a month, but instead it was at Linda's Sunroom!  We aren't that crazy about having our picture taken, but here's the table:

Next party was sooo much fun!  I invited Susannah and seven of her show choir, etc. buddies (plus Madeline) to come to Mimi's for their lunch break from school.  I had to have their lunch on the table because they only have a short time.  Here they are: 

And their dessert--chocolate brownies and vanilla petit fors:

And onward we go!  Thursday, the 20th, was bridge club day at my house with seven very dear friends.  Then Friday night is couples' bridge night.  I didn't take any pictures, but I think a great time was had by all! 

My final party of 2012 was for my wonderful family.  After breakfast at the Metzgers, we all gathered here at 3:00.  It is always great when Jay and Terri are here for Christmas, and this was the year.  We had wonderful appetizers (including a smoked chicken spread and a garlic cheese roll made by Terri), then we exchanged some pretty special gifts.  And then we ate again.  Yes, that's how we roll!  I didn't take any pictures, but there are some marvelous ones from Susan's Facebook page.

And it snowed!  How amazing is that?  Huge flakes. 

The perfect end to a perfectly wonder season.  "Praise be to God for His inexpressible gift." II Corinthians 9:15...at Christmastime, at Christmastime.

A Heart Wrenching Story

One of the stories I read about the Sandy Hook tragedy was told by a little survivor.  He was in music class, and his wonderful young teacher hid the children in a closet after locking the door to the classroom.  The killer came to the door and beat on it shouting, "LET ME IN!"  "LET ME IN!"  The children remained perfectly silent, some holding their musical instruments so as to keep them from making a sound. 

And then they prayed.

The killer left.  This was his last stop before killing himself.

When I read this, I immediately thought of the words of Jesus in Revelation 3:20.  "Behold, I stand at the door and knock."  

"But, Jesus, sorry you're not allowed to come in to our classrooms.  And that prayer was a no-no, too."

If He's standing at your door, LET HIM IN.  He is the Light in this horribly dark world.  He is our ONLY hope and salvation.  

Oh, and I think we best let Him back into our schools, too.

I'm On A Roll

Yes.  This morning I've already blown off steam on Facebook about the trash men coming early when you're not ready and late when you are.  I've complained about the fact that charges are placed on your credit card immediately but credits take forever.  Now...

Have you ever experienced a night when you just can't go to sleep no matter what?  Have you finally resorted to giving up, getting up, and turning on the TV?  If you have, then...

You've probably seen those infomercials that offer a second item absolutely free.  You just have to pay the shipping!  Have you noticed that you can NEVER see the shipping charge on the screen?  It's either not there, or it's so small and goes by so quickly you can't possibly read it.

So...you call the 800 number, and the conversation might go something like this:

Me:  "Can you tell me what the shipping charge would be on the free second Bedazzled Nose Hair Trimmer?"

Operator:  "Why yes.  That charge is, let me see, hmm--it's only $39.95!"

Me:  "Are you kidding me?  $39.95 just for the shipping?  I never heard of such a ridiculous thing!"

Operator:  "Do you hear how selfish you sound?  Here we are giving you a Bedazzled Nose Hair  Trimmer absolutely free and you are whining about the shipping charge."

Me:  Click.

And now you're fuming so much that you REALLY can't go go sleep! 

Brace Yourselves--I've Created a Recipe!

Yes.  You are on the right blog.  In the way, way distant past, my copying a restaurant's dish would not have been unusual.  Now, my turning on the cook top for any reason is unusual.

As I remember it all started with Daniel's nachos.  The Daniel's restaurant I remember us going to was on University Drive.  I still have the recipe card where I wrote down my "interpretation."    It was probably in the '70's or '80's when nachos were first introduced--onto our scene, anyway.  I made Wick Fowler chili, cooked fabulous pinto beans, drained them, put all over "Jimenez" chips, and popped into hot oven after smothering with finely grated cheese.   We loved them.  My sweet Terri made me Daniel's nachos one year for my birthday!

Then there was my homemade Taco Bell.  I tried to season my ground beef as well as theirs, cooked and blended pinto beans, and we had all the trimmings for tacos, burritos, and tostados. It was a production and quite fun and delicious!  Oh, I would save Taco Bell hot sauce packets to use on my dishes!

I was fixin' reuben sandwiches before they were popular.  I got the bread, the pastrami, the sauerkraut, the mustard, and buttered and grilled them in a skillet.  My sweet kids would even eat sauerkraut!  They ate almost anything--as Susan reminded me recently with this story:

I used to serve canned spinach (ugh), and to make it more palatable (?) I would top it with chopped hard-boiled egg.  So help me I think they ate it.  I know Jack did.  He loved canned spinach.  It was his "health food."

But I digress.  Today's spectacular achievement is duplicating Reata's chicken tortilla soup.  It is my very favorite thing there.  I always get the "Saddle Pack" combination with the soup and field greens salad.  The soup obviously does not have a lot of ingredients, but it is so delicious.  Actually, I'm not quite through perfecting my recipe, but I'm just excited to be close.  And don't laugh at how easy it is.

REATA'S TORTILLA SOUP

Chicken Broth (details below)

Better than Boullion to taste 

Chopped white rotisserie chicken (I love Sam's)

Lots of freshly squeezed lime juice

Chopped avocado 

Grated mozzarella cheese

Crispy strips for topping

*They include chopped jalapenos, but I have them left off

Make your broth*, add chicken and lime juice.  Let flavors cook together a bit.

Add chopped avocado just long enough to warm.

Spoon into a bowl, then add cheese and top with strips.**

*The part I haven't perfected yet is the broth.  Today I used something fancy that I just stumbled across at Kroger.  It is Imagine organic free range chicken broth!  "Imagine" that!!!  It was a bit strong for me.  Next time I may just use water and the Better than Boullion, which is in a jar in the soup section at the grocery, I think.  Or I may just use ordinary chicken broth with added BTB.  I was introduced to this product by one of the chefs at Silverado, and I think it is amazing!!!  Both the chicken flavor and the beef flavor will do wonderful things for your corresponding dishes.  In this case, however, I don't think the broth makes so much difference.  The secret is in...drum roll...the lime juice. 

**The tortilla strips I bought at the grocery store are not nearly as good as Reata's.  I even warmed them--but they are too short and fall down into the soup and get soggy.  I may check with Reata about buying some there.

I know I've jumped the gun here, but you can't imagine how accomplished I feel today. It really tasted pretty much like theirs!  I'm thinking of changing my name to Paula, or Giada, or Shay!

Oh, by the way.  You might want to either eat this in private or make sure everyone with you is eating it.  The mozzarella is incredibly stringy and requires some unsightly negotiation.

Don't Go It Alone, Girls

My friend Becky calls me, "Spunky."  I take pride in being independent.  I thought the days of women being treated differently in business were over.  I guess they are not.

Not to be overbearing, but I can't stop thinking about my experience at the Toyota dealership.  The salesman actually looked embarrassed, as well he should have, when I reacted with amazement to what I was hearing.  The price he finally gave me after two hours was $8000 over the sticker price when you factor in the meager $7000 he was giving me for my car.  (Grubbs Infiniti gave me $11,000 for my Prius.)

Now I don't think there's any possible way I would have gone for that ridiculous deal.  But...I credit the information I had from Ken Mitchell as letting me know just how bad it was.  And my son Jay was with me when I bought the car.  Man--man!

Neither was I completely alone at the Infiniti dealership.  My son-in-love Rob had heard a deal on the radio for a special lease at Grubbs.  If I had not known to ask for that deal, I might not have come out as well.  However, I believe Grubbs is a Christian-owned dealership.  How do I know?  I have leased a car there before, and they play Christian music on their intercom (like Hemisphere's and Hobby Lobby.)  Their first offer to me gave me less for my car.  I called Rob, and he stayed on the phone with me quite a while looking up values for my car.  I actually accepted a deal for less than he thought I should, but I did get more than their original offer.  And the lease I got is amazing--thanks to a man, again.

This has really messed up my thinking.  Every subjective price I get from now on is going to cause me to be suspicious.  I was telling someone in choir about my experience, and she said that I needed to advise fellow single women.  So here it is.  Girls, you best not go it alone unless you're a tougher negotiator and much better informed than I am.

You've Got the Wrong Fish!

My Prius, which I've had since 2008, made a funny noise last week.  That's all it took to make me decide I needed a new car.  Well, that and it had 75,000 miles on it, and my kids like the idea of my keeping a newer car.

I have enjoyed my Prius very much--felt very smug getting that fantastic gas mileage.  So I headed for the local Prius dealership which shall remain nameless.  (Starts with a "V".)  I wanted to begin by just getting an idea how much a new vehicle would cost, how much mine was worth as a trade-in, and how much a lease might be.  Ridiculous idea.  That doesn't happen in a reasonable time.  You've got to go through all this foolishness first.

I can't remember how in the world this older salesman killed 2 hours, but he did.  For instance, he couldn't just look on his computer to see if they had the vehicle I wanted.  We had to go drive around the back lot and look.  They didn't have what I wanted, so I just picked out the closest thing and asked for some figures.  Then he was gone forever having my car appraised.  Really?  At the dealership where it has always been serviced?

Now what he didn't know is that Ken Mitchell is my faithful car consultant.  He traded his Prius (same model as mine) in this year, and he told me how much his trade figure was.  So...this little lady would recognize a fair ballpark figure--or an unfair one as it turns out.

After my reaching the point of complete exasperation, Mr. Salesman finally came back with some figures.  The sales price to me for a car with fewer features than Ken's was $13,500 more than Ken's!  I was completely flabbergasted and said, "Does that include some kind of financing, or did you not take into account my trade-in?"  He stuttered around a bit and then said no, that it was kind of like fishing--you just throw out the bait and see if it will be taken.

So...this fish does have a new car.  It is a shiny black Infiniti G25.  It has everything I required, that being: Number 1--keyless ignition so I don't have to dig in my purse for my key.  And at Number 2-- a back up camera because nothing behind me is safe when I'm in reverse.  Let's not talk about gas mileage, o.k.?

I'll show you a picture of it tomorrow.

I like the back.......

I like the front.......

I love the clock.....

You Had What in That Bag?

In case you haven't heard, I am home from a cruise, but my clothes are not.  It's been 48 hours now, and no sign of my bag.

I have the American Airlines/Bag Status number memorized now.  I call often.  Sometimes I get someone very nice, and sometimes I get someone who is patronizing and patiently annoyed.  One of the former, a lovely lady, decided to go over the information they had to be sure all bases were covered.  I didn't know the brand of my bag when I was filing the original claim, so she added that--Travelpro.  I told her the size and that the color was not really brown as I had stated, but copper.

Then she said, "Tell me a couple of very specific things that are in the bag by which we might identify it.  Well.  You just wouldn't believe how easy that was.  I said, "Bathroom scales on top wrapped in a white Holland America robe with my initials on it.  Also a large plastic tray."  I am still chuckling over the fact that she actually asked me to describe the tray!  As if anyone else would have a tray--or especially the combination of a tray and bathroom scales!

I'm sure you can guess why the scales.  I have thought of taking them before, but the situation was right this time--so I did.  I weighed each and every morning, keeping track of the harm done.  And the tray?  I like to eat in my cabin or on my balcony.  Several years ago the ships stopped furnishing trays in the buffet eating area.  So I decided to carry my own.  I could step a short distance to the elevator, shoot up to the 12th floor, get my food and drink (I carried my lidded Starbucks cup for that), and get back almost as quickly as going to the kitchen at home!  My tray got a few stares, but they were probably jealous ones!   I just know I started a trend.

I am so thankful that there is nothing sentimentally irreplaceable in the bag, except the tray.  I bought it on my first visit to my cousin Sarah's home in Alpine, Arizona.  The shop where I got it is no longer there--it was gone even before the wildfires.  I loved the tray and used it every day, but I have another which is equally beautiful and serves the purpose.

On my last call I found out that I can file another claim after 5 days have elapsed.  (If I had told you it would be months, I was wrong.)   Will I be filing?  Will I receive back a mangled and mutilated bag?  Will I receive back my bag in perfect shape?  Will I receive no bag at all?  I know you all will be standing by with bated breath!  ...To be continued!