You are currently browsing the monthly archive for December, 2008.
As the stroke of midnight approaches, we are counting our blessings from 2008 and we’re laying some of the trials of the year to rest. The Ls are entering into the New Year with renewed spirits and open hearts. We are grateful for our friends and family and we wish you nothing but the best for 2009.
I offer a toast to all of you for a year filled with peace, joy, prosperity and good health.
Be well…
From the L family to yours, we send you our best wishes for a Merry Christmas. We hope your hearts are filled with joy, peace and love.
Be well…
Will, Susan and Olivia
Fabul-O totally rocked it on Santa’s lap.
This was our 4th try and it was a success.
The first was at our breakfast with Santa. Where I gave her $20 to not scream, but she gave it back because she didn’t look at the camera for a picture.
Second try she avoided him like the plague and collapsed in the mall floor claiming exhaustion.
Third and fourth tries were this past Saturday. Third try she managed to eek out her Christmas list but refused to smile and expressed her displeasure, but without tears. After some Chick-Fil-A and a small bribe, we did tried it one more time. This time it worked. Only with Will screeching at the top of his lungs, “LOOK, MOMMY HAS BUNNY EARS!!” as he mounted his hands on my head. Apparently, it’s hilarious. I’m a sucker and bought the $45 package. A bit over zealous, I know, and the quality of the prints is subpar, at best, but she smiled and I am proud. As we walked away she said, “Santa’s nice and he gave me stickers.” Yes, he is.
It’s official…Fundraising with A Second Helping is in full swing!
They are $20 and it includes shipping. They ship media mail and are ready to go! You can do it one of two ways:
Pay via paypal. Hopefully this link will work. If it doesn’t, the email associated is proudguardwife [at] gmail [dot] com.
If you prefer, you can mail a check and when I receive it, I will mail the book to you. Email me at the same address and I will tell you where to mail it.
From our families to yours, thank you for your support. It means the world to us!
A Second Helping
I’ve been up since 1 a.m. when Olivia proclaimed to the world that she couldn’t sleep. She’s watching N0ggin, playing and reading books to herself. It’s really hard to entertain this early with only 2 hours of sleep. At 2:30 she decided she was hungry. No breakfast that early around here unless one is cooking for oneself.
Joy. Will’s alarm just went off. I’m going to try and sleep for an hour. G’night.
I know it’s a loss. I knew it was a loss when I typed the post. So why did I do it if I knew it? Reassurance. Thanks. This was just that one outfit that looked really good on me and was uber flattering. Hate when crap like this happens. C’est la vie.
When we came home from our fabulous vacation to Dollywood at the beginning of September, I realized I left an outfit hanging in the closet of the condo we rented. I contacted the folks we rented from and their cleaning lady verified I had left it. Yay! I offered to send a U*P*S* call tag and all they had to do was put it in a box, the driver would bring the prepaid label and it would be on its way back to me and it would be insured. They told me no, they would take care of sending it. Well, fast forward to December and I still have no outfit. I contacted her again and she gave me the delivery confirmation number for using the postal service and I tracked it on U*S*P*S.com and it shows having arrived at a sort facility in NOVEMBER and that was the last it was seen. I asked landlord lady if she insured it. Nope. I called the post office people and they say, in a nutshell, too bad, too sad. I sent another email back to landlord lady and told her I was the loser in all this and this is the exact reason I wanted to issue the call tag so it would be insured. She said she would file a complaint with her post office. All that might do is get her a refund of what she paid to ship the item. That’s it.
I paid about $50 for it. So it’s not super duper expensive, but it is my “the” outfit.
What should I do? Should I ask her to reimburse me for at least half the cost of the outfit? There are lots of things I should have done differently with the whole shipping thing, but I have a tendency to think people think like I do. Big mistake.
Olivia goes to a Christian school and they learn Bible verses. The other night, we were talking about them and I asked her to recite ones she knew. She started with Genesis 1:1. Then she moved on to John Brown 3:16…….
Saturday, we had breakfast at McCormick and Schmick’s as they hosted breakfast with Santa in support of a local charity, Ace & TJ’s Grin Kids. We decided to see Santa first and then eat breakfast. We had early reservations – next time will be earlier – so the wait was about 15-20 minutes. She didn’t want to stand up. She wanted to be held. 30.8 lbs. feels like 30.8 tons after about 8 minutes. Needless to say, she was more pleased leaving him than she was in the wait to see him. If she said, “I want to go home NOW” once, she said it 100,000 times. We “heard” reindeer hoof steps on the roof of the restaurant where they were parked. Did ya’ll know reindeer bowl while waiting for Santa? It’s true! We heard them. Anyway, we went over her list to make sure she got everything. She wanted no part of being around him. She got ready to burst into tears and I reached in my pocket and pulled out a $20 to keep her from crying. It worked. Mrs. Claus brought her a present and that brightened her up a little bit. I recited her list and she said, “yes” to everything. Then I asked her wasn’t there one more thing she’d like to add to the list? She very quietly asked for our soldiers to be happy and safe. Santa looked at me and I explained that her daddy was a soldier and all that was going on with deployment, etc. and we thought maybe if he had some extra cheer, he could spread some for us. Santa then asked me a question and it made me tear up. Santa asked could we say a prayer and we did. I was very touched by Santa and thanked him. He told me he was touched by
us and thanked us!
She didn’t look at the camera when they took our picture – I’ll have to scan it in – and was more than ready to tell him bye when it was done.
We’re supposed to see Santa again this weekend at a function we’re attending so we may try the list one more time and to get a picture where she actually looks at the camera.
By the way, I got my $20 back because she didn’t smile for the camera.
Here’s the picture of us waiting in line.
Who's pleased?
My chapter of Blue Star Mothers of North Carolina sponsored care packages for some soldiers in Iraq. Fabul-O and Will helped me package them. I found a fantastic deal on the bags and bows from Nashville Wraps. I think they turned out pretty cute, if I may say so myself.
Merry Christmas, Soldier boys. Stay safe.
So, here’s one of the overdue Thanksgiving posts. This one is about food.
I made my first cheesecake evah and I must say it was yummo! It was the Caramel Pumpkin Gingersnap Cheesecake (sans nuts) snagged from The Pioneer Woman.
Lots of stuff to go into it
Done!
We decided semi-spur of the moment to buy the Big Easy by Charbroil. It’s an infrared turkey fryer. Spur of the moment means we saw it at Costco and deliberated over it forever and decided to not spend the money. Then I went home and read the reviews on it and, bless Will’s heart, he got to make the return trip to Costco to buy it.
The Big Easy
We bought it on Sunday and since I was making the turkey for our family Thanksgiving, I couldn’t make the t-giving day bird the first one, so we did a trial run that night, which meant Will had to buy another turkey while at Costco. I cooked 35 lbs. of turkey that week.
Super simple, my friends. I simply salt and peppered ye olde bird inside and out as well as under the skin and coated the skin with olive oil. Poked the thermometer in and set off to cook the bird.
Here’s the skinny on cooking the bird in this bad boy… There are no real cooking times because outdoor temperatures vary, which can affect your cooking time. I had it in my head to cook the 10-12 min. per pound you find everywhere else, which meant my 17.1 lb. bird should have cooked for about three hours. Well, after 2 hours, the thermometer read it was done, but I’ve had salmonella and I was scared so I let it cook for another 20 minutes. Took it out and let it rest for the juices to redistribute. Ummm….not long enough. The breast meat was done and uber juicy, but the dark meat and along the drumsticks not done. Chunked that bird.
Come Thursday, I planned well in advance to cook my new 18.3 lb. bird about 3 hours and 20 minutes. But I couldn’t …. I looked at the thermometer again and kept telling myself it wasn’t done. I knew better than to take it out, but I did it anyway. I knew as soon as I did, I had made a mistake, but it was too late. It was out of the basket and I didn’t tie his legs so I couldn’t get him back in there without messing him up so I threw him upside down in a baking bag and filled his cavity with a can of chicken broth and baked for another hour in the oven.
All in all, I will call it a success. Normally I cook my turkeys in my rotisserie oven, but the original bird I bought was too big for it (only holds up to a 15 lb. bird) and they turn out wonderful so I was really nervous about having to cook my bird the “old fashioned way” for 15 people and it turning out horrible. I’ve already told Will two birds a year does not justify the price we paid for it, so I’m going to try a brisket in it at some point. There are no pictures of the end result. Why? I was so pissy and mad at myself by the time I finished cooking it I wasn’t in the mood.
How does it work? Runs off propane and there is a burner that runs around the bottom of the cooker and it cooks it by infrared heat. The mesh top that goes on it is what browns the top of the bird. I think it was just as good as a fried turkey without all the grease. I’ve tried traditional frying and didn’t have good success. That wasn’t an endeavor I opted to repeat. It took less than the one hour the instructions said it would to put it together and you need to “season” the cooker by spraying with cooking spray or some type of oil and cooking it empty until it stops smoking. There’s a drip tray to catch the drippings and you just dump it when you’re done. By the way, the METAL mesh lid? It gets hot so don’t forget that when you go to grab it. Did ya’ll know hydrocortisone cream with Aloe and vitamin E stops the burn better than Neosporin? Or it could have been the sour cream I shoved my thumb in at first. I’m not sure, but I know it burned and it hurt.
Fabul-O looked mahvelous as did my gorgeous nieces. Those pictures to come at some point.
Will and I were promoted from a couple to a family.
At 2:42 p.m. on December 8, 2005, we received this picture in our email:
Yu Si Jia had been chosen to be our daughter and was waiting for us in Chongqing.
I never knew I could love one person so stinking much!
We use some real-life words at our house, but since Olivia hasn’t quite learned when it is socially unacceptable to SCREAM words, such as fart, there are alternate phrases that are used. First of all, I’m still not proud that my child learned to cock her leg to pass gas at the tender age of 21 months. Second, I’m still not proud that she announces to everyone within ear shot that when she has to go poop, she is going to “turn the walls green. Stay very far away ’cause it stinks.” That being said, it makes me cringe when I hear some things that she brings home from gosh knows where. One little girl in her class refers to the passing of gas as “I shot the rabbit.” Yes, her daddy taught her that and her mother was just as pleased as I was about leg cocking. Fabul-O used fart a few times, which I’m not a fan of, very loudly in public so I politely asked her to not announce when it happened. She could utter a polite “excuse me” and all would be well, but no one wanted to hear what she had just done. It worked for about 5 milliseconds. Now they are “hiney growls.” I’m cool with that, seriously.
Enter our new phase: Passing the blame.
Friday night, her “hiney growled” and, before it was even done growling, she piped up with, “Daddy did it!” I asked her if daddy really did it or if she was telling a story and she replied with, “It was daddy. It stinks.” Of course, he vehemently denied it was him and passed the blame right back. Now he’s on the bitter end of the blame game. The power an almost 4-year-old has over her father.
Who knew Chateau L had the makings of a frat house?! Tap the juice boxes ’cause it’s time for some f-u-n.
Tomorrow begins a busy, busy weekend for the occupants of Chateau L. Okay, so it’s not like we let grass grow under our feet anyway, but the holidays always make it more hectic.
Tomorrow, Fabul-O and I are having breakfast with Santa in support of a local charity, Grin Kids. We went to our local mall the other night and said man in red was there…was “picture with your pet” night. Olivia shouted, “MOMMY! Santa has Pom-Pom. Two of dems!” After ’splaining those doggies were someone else’s, blah, blah, blah. We stood a safe distance back (approximately 40 miles) from him and just watched. He waved at her and she covered her eyes…she’s still kind of in the phase of “if I can’t see you, you can’t see me.” We ran our errands and walked back by where he was and he tried to speak to her. Well, she was having NO part of that. She politely, but firmly, told him we would see him for “breffust” and she would talk to him then. Alrighty.
Every day she asks me if Santa is a nice guy, did he fly on an airplane or sleigh to get to town and would he just leave her stuff and go? And every day I answer her. She told me this morning she thought she was ready to talk to him and she had a new item to add to her original Christmas list. Okay…let’s hear it, kiddo.
Stickers, crayons, coloring books, computer and a FLASHLIGHT.
She loves flashlights. At last count I think she has 3 of them. One of them is a baby Maglite like daddy’s big one. That is her favorite.
After breakfast, we are heading off to a celebration to welcome home some National Guard soldiers who served in Djibouti, Africa. We helped to put it together and it’s always nice to meet the soldiers face to face with whom you’ve corresponded. Will is soldiering so he won’t be in attendance. However, he has been put as the first sergeant in charge while his unit is gone. This tells us he isn’t reassigned to another unit, but will be leading the remaining soldiers while the others are gone. It’s flattering as he is not a 1SG nor is he the highest ranking soldier not deploying.
PomPom has a spa day tomorrow. It’s more like a bath and haircut, but I’m playing it up and hoping it helps her disposition a little. She’s been kind of crabby lately. I know I usually feel good after a good haircut and am hoping she will, too.
Sunday is the family supp0rt meeting. I’m still trying to figure out the dynamic of our FRG and, to answer Koli’s mom from an earlier comment, I’m not playing a big part in the FRG. It’s not because I don’t want to, but because they won’t “let” me. It’s not easy to penetrate this group. I’m not giving up. I’ve got a support plan in mind with or without their blessing and help.
There are Thanksgiving pics and recap to come. I have a swell new turkey cooker and made my first evah cheesecake. Both were yummo.
Happy Friday!
Monday at 0700, or somewhere around that time, approximately 100 soldiers reported for active duty at our armory. Several were not there. One of them is my soldier.
Today, beginning around 1030, these 100 soldiers and their families began the send off “festivities.” The email I received with times and instructions read “2 – 4 pm” with the address given for the ceremony. I got this yesterday afternoon. Will got a call from a friend of ours who was a little disjointed with the disorganization of final preparations and it was he, not the one Will had been in contact with for the past week or so or family support, who gave us the 1030 start time. Will called to inquire and was advised that we weren’t really “invited” because a head count was done with those who reported to active duty Monday for food. Sorry about that.
Today it’s not about missing hot dogs or chicken or gold-dipped tacos. Today, we did not see the soldiers off for the first leg of their mobilzation for deployment. Will talked to some of them and gave them our best wishes. We are hoping to see those who pass through our town when they come home for a few days at Christmas. Then they’ll go back for more training before deploying.
I’m not going to go into any great detail right now other than I’m sorry we weren’t able to share in this.
Within a few days of finding out he wasn’t leaving, I received several phone calls and emails from folks looking for resources and an ear. Maybe we are meant to support from home. I don’t know. What I do know is tonight our prayers have a new layer added to them. Prayers for strength, guidance and wisdom for everyone; not just the soldiers and our leaders, but the warrior families who said the first of several good-byes to come.
