Archives for December 2014

~ Count Your Blessings ~

christmas time

All a buzz… this can be the busiest time of year for a lot of us. We seem to want to cram as much as possible into a few short weeks of time. We know from past experience what this does to us and those around us, but we seem to get caught up into it year after year. Still, even with all the added tasks and outings that can drain the energy out of you, if you can manage to find those still, quiet moments to contemplate the “reason for the season”, it’s undeniable what a special time of year it really is. Sitting mornings by the warmth of the fire, with only the glow of the Christmas lights interrupting the darkness, this is my time each day to reflect on all of the blessings that have been lavishly poured out on me…and, I’m grateful!

christmas time 2

We celebrated one of those many blessings over the weekend. Our grandson was turning five and we all gathered together, enjoying the special little man that he is.

John Michaels birthday

The background to this is….”Nana makes cakes”, according to John Michael. So, he decides what his party theme is for the year and…Nana makes a cake to go with it! What someone failed to explain to him was, for the previous generation, when Nana was Mom, there were several shows that were “off limits”. Among the list was, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which to my amazement has come back around full force…and guess who likes it!?!( I have two older nephews that will enjoy how the tables have turned, and I quote…”stupid Little House On The Prairie!”). Well, since Nana is a much softer touch now than she was as Mom, the quest was on for the,  TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle) cake pan. I have since found out that I needed to start this search much sooner, instead of dragging my feet. Wilton has retired their 1989 TMNT cake pan and now it is considered “vintage”. Being the lover of old things that I am, you would think this would make me happy. No, what this means is that this cake pan that I really don’t want in my collection is two or three times it’s original price! When my Amazon search turned up one for over $100.00, I gave the search over to my “ebaying” husband. He found one with the auction up that night and won the bid, Yay him! Unfortunately, it wasn’t shipped out for three days! So, when Saturday morning came around and the TMNT cake pan wasn’t in the morning mail, I knew the worst had come! (haha) I would have to get creative around a theme that as a mom I had opposed. Alas, Nana couldn’t disappoint, so Papa and I were off on a shopping trip for a cake topper. (Might I add, there are wedding cakes with less expensive cake toppers than this.)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cake

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cake

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cake

 

He liked his cake…’nuff said!

P.S. The “TMNT” cake pan came the day after the party!

~ What I Learned in November ~

Golden RetrieverI haven’t participated in this in awhile, but I’m linking up with Emily Freeman over at Chatting at the Sky, for a look back at what I learned in November. This is an interesting and fun thing to do, even if you don’t have a blog. It’s amazing looking back and realizing you’re still learning, or should be!

1. My first thing learned was actually from my sister-in-laws post from lasts month “What I learned in…”. She introduced me to Glennon Doyle Melton and her blog Monastery. A great new find for me, love it and her (and my sister-in-law).

2. Secondly, is more a matter of admitting about myself rather than just learning….I seriously have a problem following a recipe. I always start out  planning to follow it, but somewhere along the way I convince myself that a little more of this or that, or omitting this or that, or substituting what I’m certain will improve the dish or “work just as well”, and sometimes it does! The point does remain, I’m ADD when it comes to following a recipe….I do love to make up my own though!

3. Our sweet dog Riley wasn’t feeling well last month, so we took her to the vet. They prescribed a medication, but instead of handing us a bottle of pills they gave us the scrip and sent us to the pharmacy! Okay, maybe others are use to this, but as for us, we just looked at each other like ” Okkk?” strange but OK. So, apparently she is on “people pills”. New to us…when did this become normal?

4. Technically speaking, with the assistance of the same sister-in-law I have finally figured out the drop down menus on my blog. It’s endless, there’s more space than I have information to share, but if I feel so inclined, I now have the space and the know how.

5. …and lastly, I learned after more years than I care to mention, after marrying (the first time) at 18, becoming a mom at 22, again at 24…26…28…and 31, a single mom at 39, a new wife again (thank-you Jesus for this man!) at 43, a Nana, and an empty-nester (sort of), for the very first time I’ve worked!..outside of our home!…for pay!…and I liked it!

See you next time…keep learning!