Springfield Christmas '08

Cookie crumbs and milk left over from Santa

Manny playing with the Santa toy Nana gave him

Sarah and Claire Bear ;-)

Good morning Sunshine!!

Shhhh! It's a Sleeping Carson!!

More to come soon!!! Hope everyone is having a fabulous holiday season!! ;-)

Pfft You Were Gone.... (Christmas '08)

Carson & Parker's Rendition of Hee Haw's "Pfft You Were Gone"

Hee Haw's Original Rendition of "Pfft You Were Gone"

Another Denton landmark....

And so my friends, another Denton landmark is closing its doors.... I just found out tonight that Voyager's Dream will be closing soon. First it was Karma Cafe, then the Tomato, Mr. Chopsticks.... and now Voyager's. I can't begin to tell you how many amazing memories I have of this place. It's where I bought my first drum, it's where I always used to buy my favorite incense (when I still lived in Denton), and ever since I can remember it has been a place to meet like-minded, peace-loving folks. Simply put.

We'll most certainly miss your presence on Fry Street Mike.... your car with all its bumper stickers and paint pen markings, the Banana Tree (plus the other inhabitants of the back space), and your candles of varying height at the check out counter -- depending on how long they'd been dripping -- only true Fry Street folks know what this means ;-)

Thanks for all the wonderful memories.......

Wrappin' Presents

The boys and I are wrapping presents this morning. Mostly I'm doing the wrapping actually, and Manny and Divo occassionally do some sniffing here and there, then rearrange scraps of wrapping paper when they fall on the floor. Identity of present on top has been disguised in order to maintain surprise until opening ;-)

Today is my first offical day of winter break ~ YaY!!!! I get two FuLL weeks off from work. My plan is to spend about a week (possibly more, depending) in Springfield with mom, dad, Sarah, and crew...then head back to celebrate New Years in Dallas.

My break has gotten off to a fabulous start! The best part yesterday was getting out a little early after the Christmas party at Huie. The party was fabulous, and they did a real "bang up" job of roasting one of our coordinators who is retiring (even held an entire mock ARD to address transition services since she is "aging out" of the system) ROFL

I originally thought I would go to a winter solstice event in Dallas last night, but ended up at North Park Mall and India Palace with Belinda instead. I was a little nervous about venturing into a mall the week before Christmas.... but parking wasn't that bad, and once we got inside we were greeted by a fabulous orchestra playing holiday music. AbSoLuTeLy loved that, as it really created a warm, fuzzy holiday feeling. Plus.... I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff ;-)

So, if.........

So, if my post of the angry Bichon yesterday is a perfect display of what teachers are like two days before school gets out for Christmas break..... this lovely poodle shows what we're like when we have only.... one.... more... day........................

Okay guys, I know....

Okay guys, I know my posts are usually a little more inspirational and "feel good"....but I just couldn't resist this one. This describes.... to a "T".... how I feel about getting up early to go to work when Christmas break is days away ROFL

Vegan Potato Soup

Vegan potato soup (AKA, my adventurous attempt at modifying Sarah Kramer's Carrot Soup recipe)

Brown potatoes and onions....

Add veggie stock and soy milk, then simmer until potatoes are tender....

Blend half of veggies with stock/soy milk, spices,
and cilantro (then add back to large soup pot, stir, and enjoy)

Charlotte, Fern, and Wilbur

I know I'm a bit of a Pollyanna at heart, but don't you think.... that if we could all learn to love like Charlotte, Fern, and Wilbur that the world would be a much better place...?

More Pics of Pampa House.... :-)

Vegan Carrot Soup -- yummm!!

My latest culinary creation ~ Vegan Carrot Soup (recipe from Sarah Kramer's book How It All Vegan). Sooo yummy!! I'm absoltuely thrilled with how this healthy soup recipe turned out.

;-D

Cheesecake Adventure 2008

So, as many of you know, I have taken it upon myself to create the biggest baddest (bad in the good sense) cheesecake adventure of 2008. Since sharing with friends that I will stay here for Thanksgiving, I have received numerous invitations for turkey day festivities. Well, as we all know from our Emily Post books, it's simply not kosher to have dinner at someone's house without bringing a dish. Sooo.... hmmm.... what could I make that would be relatively easy, tasty, and a good choice for this handful of gatherings? I thought about making some pumpkin pies, but bleh, that's so cliche, right?! Pumpkin cheesecake though.... not so cliche! So I set out to find the bestest most yummiest recipe I could get my hands on. The final winner was Paula Deen's version of this not-so-cliche treat ;-)

Saturdy Morning Cartoons & Footie Pajamas

Soooo, I went to bed way too early last night (totally pooped from a looong week), which of course means that I woke up a bit earlier than usual today. What to do at this early hour on a Saturday morning? Grocery shopping? Heck no, would have to do something with this wild bird's nest that is my hair. Do some chores around the house? Double HeCk no, I've been a slave to chores all week at work. Hmmmm...... so how about flipping on the TV for some background noise while I mill around trying to wake up? Bingo.

While I didn't recognize the characters' voices at first, the sounds drifting back from the living room brought an old familiar feeling to mind right away. It was like in a movie, where the screen becomes misty and all of a sudden the protagonist is magically transported back in time. The smell of pancakes filled the air, and if I didn't know better, I would swear that I could feel the texture of my old footie pajamas on my feet (even how the left foot side always caught on my pinky toe darn it). And in that moment, I wished I had a couple of friends over, all piled on blankets in the middle of the living room, crazy tired from staying up too late the night before, but too entraced with our favorite cartoons to ever consider going back to sleep.

Anyone wanna come over for pancakes? I make a mean Micky Mouse panckake, and depending on how luxurious we're feeling, we can even put chocolate chips in the batter. Okay guys, don't put it past me to host a pancake breakfast sometime soon. This kind of fun is WAY too cool to not carry over into adulthood.... at least every once in awhile ;-)

What was your favorite Saturday morning cartoon/show as a kid? Care to share any of your own favorite Saturday morning memories??

Our House

Thank you to our Pampa house. . . . . . . for all the wonderful memories

;-)