Humbling weekend wrap-up...

Being off work has afforded me alot of time for holiday baking, which I thoroughly enjoy! Now that I have completed my baking I have moved on to the cooking portion... I plan to gift to my family members lots of home baked, home cooked and home smoked goodies this holiday season!! Additionally, I have a co-worker who is having surgery following Christmas and since she is a single Mom of a teenager I prepared split pea soup and lasagna for her. Both of these freeze so well and can be warmed up easily and makes for a great meal. I have also been perfecting a BBQ sauce recipe! My kids seem to like it well enough, and I value their input!! With all of this in mind I set out to prepare my three items...

Here is my stovetop nearly full!!!

I have the pea soup simmering, browning italian sausage and boiling the lasagna noodles ~

The completed products!!!

I ended up with 10 cups of pea soup, 8 cups of BBQ sauce and two large pans of lasagna.

I cut the lasagna into appropriate serving sizes and placed them in food saver bags for freezing.

Last week The Fireguy lost a fellow firefighter brother due to a line of duty death, marking the first such loss in the department history. As we all know, there is no good time to loose a loved one, but this time of year seems to make it especially difficult. This young firefighter leaves behind a wife and two young sons, also missing his Christmas Day birthday by days. The service was beyond words; a full ceremonial event. To see hundreds of uniformed personnel was amazing and the church overflowing with mourners was so humbling. There was no less than 35-40 various fire apparatus parked in front of and leading to the church. The bagpipers and honor guard performed their duties flawlessly. I wanted to take my camera to record this event, but then again I didn't want to be 'that person' at a funeral service. I took the photo below from the car and apologize for the poor quality but to see the American flag draped from two ladder trucks filled me with such emotion.

Following the service my Fireguy and I returned home and discussed the afternoon. It was the first service that we had attended that we were not together. All uniformed personnel were seated together; the spouses/significant others were seated elsewhere. It is one thing to observe the brotherhood of the firefighters, but I realized today also the 'sisterhood' that we wives/siginificant others make up. We take on a 'burden' if you will of carrying on with life at home while our firefighters put their lives on the line. Okay, sorry... back on track! This section is not about me, but about the realization of our public servants risking their own lives selfishly to protect and serve our communities. Take a moment if you will to pray for the family of this firefighter; pray for strength and comfort. The family has a very strong faith in God and I feel this will help them so much during this painful time in their lives.

Thank you for reading this rather lengthy post, but I needed to get this off my chest and felt that you all would understand...

Favorite Things - November

I know it's rather late, but I thought I would throw in a couple of items to stay on track!

I DVR'd our local PBS airing of "Great Performances" as it featured Andrea Bocelli, who I simply adore.. The entire performance was amazing, but since hearing this particular song sung by Andrea & Mary J. Blige on Oprah I have been infatuated with it!! I have played it so much I can tell you how many breaths they each take (no joke!!) It is such a beautiful rendition and who would have EVER thought these two could do any justice as a duet???

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do ~ (P.S. Be sure to pause my player at the bottom of the page to enjoy the song).

KitchenAid found here:

With the baking I have been doing recently, I have grown to LOVE my KitchenAid mixer so much more. I have to wonder what I was ever thinking when mixing cookie dough and kneading bread dough by hand!!!

Lastly, since I did not post a Thanksgiving Day blog I wanted to say that I am thankful for and they are my favorite things; My family!!

A Washington Christmas, but no SNOW!

The Fireguy and I took one of our famous 'road trips'!! We had the truck loaded with Christmas gifts and the turkey fryer and a turkey! I have brought you a couple of photos documenting our visit. Hope you enjoy them...

We had wonderful weather for the 676 mile trip up North to Washington... No snow on the roads, but can you beleive how gorgeous Mt. Shasta was?? Just a light dusting of snow and bright sunshine ~

The morning that we left for home the truck windows had these snowflake like crystals all over them! Guess that was as close to a White Christmas that I will get. They really were so pretty!

Don't laugh! These things really work ~ The Onion Goggle!! I'm sold ~

Hard core fry cooks! Brrr....

The brave fry cooks!!

My Son picking the bones clean...

We boiled the turkey carcass and made broth for future use

Dad & Son giving the water heater a winter coat

Tommy & Linds and their first Christmas tree

Tommy's home illuminated

Although a short trip, I was so happy to be able to go! It is always nice to see with your own eyes how your kids are doing...

I continue to rehab my elbow/arm and started back at the gym this week!! It feels so good to get out and be active again ~ I am making my way back to full exertion, but I still have a few limitations. I have another month off of work, and am confident that I will be be at full speed by then.

I've also kept myself busy by baking for the holidays - another blog, another day!

and 26.2 miles to wrap it all up!

Whew... What a weekend! I had such a good time tho'...

Sit back and enjoy my quick wrap-up ~

My Mom was one of the most creative people that I knew! I have long felt that my Sister and my Daughter had carried on her creativity, until recently... I have begun to try my hand at different projects and continue to 'create' in the kitchen.

This weekend I made a Christmas decoration for each of my kids. I had found the bare trees at World Market and thought that perhaps I could make them a little more special. I used some toile and a couple of Christmas themed picks that had belonged to my Mom. I think they turned out pretty well!

The bare tree *BEFORE*

The tree *AFTER*

After completing my morning project it was off to my Sister's for her Ladies Christmas party. She has been hosting this party for many years and it is always a good time!

My Daughter & I - We clean up pretty well, huh?

Each guest brought a yummy dish to share

We have a 'gift exchange' with lots of STEALING...

Sunday morning I drove to downtown Sacramento to watch my son-in-law complete his first marathon. Chris met his goal time of under 4 hours (3:57:37) My daughter ran also (3:56:43); her 5th!! It was a very cold morning and I applaud them for being out there, running and FINISHING!!!

Erin & Chris before the race; in the DARK and very cold...

Here they are after finishing 26.2 miles!!!!!

Yeppa, it was a busy weekend!! Now, to prepare for a road trip up North to visit our Son in Washington!! The Fireguy works Sunday & Monday so I am responsible for getting everything ready. Hope I can get it all done!

Have a great week all... Maybe I will get to post a few "White Christmas" pictures...

Waiting for the finishers!!!

California International Marathon

Tomorrow I'll be heading to downtown Sacramento to watch my daughter & son-in-law participate in the California International Marathon (CIM).

This run is a special one as it is PC's first full marathon!!! Erin will be running as well, however her mind will be on her man and his finish. PC has been Erin's training partner for all of her marathon's and when PC decided to run the CIM, Erin committed to be his trainer and support.

I know they will both do so well, but wanted to give them a little shout-out and spoof runners for some pre-run fun!

For Erin, this just reminds me of you!!!

For PC, I'm sure it's not THIS bad...

Remember to use Vaseline you two!!!

You can always paint toenails on!!!

Check back for results!!!!

What's Your 'Guilty Pleasure' TV show?

You know, the one you watch but don't tell anyone you watch...

Prior to my surgery, I would have to say that Will & Grace would be my answer. I recall when the show was on the air I did not watch it much. Now, however I find it so fun! The bond between Will & Grace just seems so endearing to me; no expectations, complete honesty and pure friendship.

Now however, my answer would have to be The Price is Right! I used to watch that when I was at home with my daughter as a baby. I can't really give an explanation for the draw, but the show makes me feel happy. I know several people that associate the show with old people, becasue that is usually who watches it (which I have to admit may be true as evidenced by the commercials shown during the time slot!)...

What about you... Guilty Pleasure TV show??????

Surgery recap and current status

I have been vascilatting on whether to blog about this, but that's what this blog is for! It's my life, my journey... So here goes!

My surgery went well, with the surgeon finding the probable cause for my discomfort and felt positive that my future results would be good. As seen in a previous post, I had a 'cradle cast' with lots of padding and gauze. Three ace bandages completed my trophy... I was also given a sling, which I found most helpful in carting that heavy thing around! I wore it sparingly around the house (mostly because I sat around alot!) but if I did go out I was sure to wear it! I have taken no pain meds and felt it was just more inconvenient than anything!!

Yesterday the doctor removed the cast and clipped a couple of stitch tails. I have not seen this type of wound closure; rather than the stitches being tied in knots on top of the skin they are dermal! No stitches to be seen...

The purple color is what is left of the doctor's markings!! Sure hope this all washes off... HA!!

I am out of work for 6 weeks!! No workie until at least Jan 18th!!! Yikes!!! I have a bit of self therapy to perform as my elbow is still able to fully extend and my wrist does like much movement right now either. I am limited to short periods of 'repetitive motion', meaning I can't live on my laptop!!! Dang... Guess I'll finish up some of those books ~