We Are Going to Party Like Pop Dixon

It is almost here.............the New Year...............2014!.............and we are going to party like it's 2014!!!!

I know many folks our age just head on off to bed and let the old year slip away and the new year just slide on in, but we are still attempting to rock the New Year and NOT in a rocking chair, I might add.  We still are making the effort.  It would probably be easier on me if I headed to bed at my normal 11:00 bed time, but I keep trying to make special moments in the year and in my life just that...............special moments. 

So with that in mind, we have already had our first round of appetizers; pâté.  Not just one pâté, but three different kinds; a rustic country pâté, a goose liver pâté, and a salmon pâté.  Delicious!  (I can hear you gagging, you know.)  Who knows what round two will bring.  I have a refrigerator full of delicious appetizers and dips, OKAY only one, but that is just enough to keep me awake.  I say me because the hubby stays up till at least 12:30 every night just has he has for the last 42 years. 

Happy New Year everybody.  You kids remember Pop Dixon?  I think of him every little bit, but especially on New Years Eve.  I have told this story before, but old Pop Dixon came to my parent's New Years Eve party.  He was probably 85 years old.  That same year my parents allowed me to go out with my boyfriend instead of the party, but guess what.  I had to be home at 11:30.  Got home and old Pop Dixon was still at the party!!!!  I still think about the injustice of that.  I was a young whipper-snapper and there he was, probably too old to see the road home........... 

Here's to you Pop Dixon.  Thanks for being such a wonderful influence in my life.  We are going to party like Pop Dixon.

I love you.

Saturday Night and Just a Bit of Fluff

Saturday night and just a bit of fluff.  But every once in a while, I need just a bit of fluff, don't you? 

Well my Christmas decorations are put away for another year.  I can stop pinning Christmas ideas and move on to diet foods and Valentine's Day treats on Pinterest.  But before I completely close the book on 2013 Christmas, I want to tell you about a few products or some old standbys and a few tricks I love this season.  Some were Christmas presents and some were just items I bought for myself.  So in no particular order, here are a few of my favorite things for 2013...............(channeling Oprah).

1.  OPI nail color "My Favorite Ornament".  I found this just today at Ulta and it was on SALE!  It is glittering pale gold, but so beautiful.  I can wear this on New Year's Eve for our evening at home......what???????????........did you think we were going out?  and it will be pretty on Valentine's Day evening at home...........again.........what??????????............did you think we were going out?  Or I can wear it tonight for absolutely no reason at all.

2.  Leopard print Dearfoams Satin Ballerina Slippers.  A gift, a perfect gift.  I love them. 

 

3.  Body Benefits Extra Large Bath Cloth Extra large Bath Cloth.  This is a specialty textured nylon cloth that cleans and revives rough skin.  I used this the first time today and am blown away.  You use it as you would a washcloth, but it is three times the size.  It really does revive the skin as it is a bit rough.  A winner.....thanks Rhonda.

4.  Gap 1969 Jean Leggings.........who knew I could or would wear these?  I really like these jeans with a long tunic top, but they have a tendency to grow on me if you know what I mean.  Belt needed.  Thanks Shawna for insisting I buy a pair and telling me how cute the older ladies look in them at Gap.  Now if I loose 10 pounds they would look a lot better.

5.  Crabtree and Evelyn Hand Care Collection.  Love these six little metal tubes of hand creams.  Avocado, Wisteria, Iris, Himalaya, Pomegranate, and Lily...take your pick......all lovely fragrances. 

6.  M&M White Chocolate Peppermint.  These are pretty little red and white M&M morsels.  I bought a couple of these seasonal bags today to save for Valentine's.  Rhonda said they managed to find a way to ruin perfectly good M&Ms. 

7.  Mexican food - any restaurant.  We managed to eat Mexican food 4 times while my sister was here and I found out she ate it again on her trip home and again today.  That makes 6 times in 10 or 11 days.  We love us some Mexican food.

8.  The Art of Shaving manicure tools.  My son gave me a really nice pair of nail clippers...I really like them, but they are extremely hard to use with the left hand.  I will master them.

9.  The Pioneer Woman Cooks "A Year of Holidays".  I am going to make a couple of the recipes from this book for New Year's Day; Hoppin' John and Collard Greens.  I had better look for black-eyed peas tomorrow.......last year the stores were out on New Year's Eve.

10.  Smashbox Photo Finish.  I bought a sample kit of Smashbox and Photo Finish was included.  It is a primer to be used under makeup, velvet for the face.  I will buy this in larger tubes when mine is gone.  You must try this product.

11.  Lace Liner Socks.  These come in pack of two at JCP and I found them on sale today, and immediately put them on.  Yes, right there in the store.  They are so comfy with pads under the toe bed.  A new favorite and they look so cute; black lace peeking out of my black loafers!

12.  JCP - Have you noticed the new layout at the store?  Looks very high end, very much in the likeness of Dillard's.  I really like it, but I don't think the general population will like it.  Hope so.

13.  Hot tea - specifically Bigelow assorted teas; Plantation Mint, my favorite.  I am off coffee for the time being because it really made me jittery so hot tea is my new breakfast drink. 

14.  A new sweet salad made with apples, crushed pineapple, lite Cool Whip, and sugar free butterscotch pudding that my sister, Rhonda made.  Delicious and you don't feel like you are overindulging. 

15.  My caramel popcorn, a supreme overindulgence.  Now this is NOT a new recipe, but since I made it twice in 5 days I have to include it.  It might be Rhonda's favorite.  I can still hear those words "Would you bring me a bowl of that popcorn?"  or was it "Bring me a bowl of that popcorn"?  The word "please" might have been in there sometimes.

16.  EOS Lemon Drop Smooth Sphere Lip Balm SPF 15.  Smells so good.  It is on my night stand, a new nightly ritual.  Yeah, the sun in really bright in my bedroom.  It's a joke, Steve.  (That is a family inside joke that I will explain one of these days.)

17.  Bare Minerals Kit that I bought off QVC early in the season.  I love the colors to brighten the face and love, love, love the eye shadow collection.  This kit makes me really enjoy the me time I have playing with my makeup every morning.......yeah, I am one of those people who put full makeup on every day.

18.  Taylor perfume by................(don't hate me) Taylor Swift.  I know, I know!  It smells so good.  I am not one to buy a perfume using a celebrity's name, but I did this time.  Darn those catalog perfume inserts.  I know, I know!

19.  Sam's Club Smoked Brisket - always good and always a hit at holiday gatherings.  Throw that thing in a crockpot and you have a meal.  Throw in some rolls and breads and you have an instant party. 

20.  Baking Soda, water, and aluminum foil.......a simple recipe to remove tarnish from my silverware.  30 minutes later and you are "goods to go" as a certain daughter of mine would say.  Definitely not a product, but a favorite because it saved me labor!!!

Well, that's about it for 2013.  It's waning fast............about time for a new beginning, don't you think?

Saturday night and just a bit of fluff.

Thank you all for reading my blog.  I love you all.


   

 

   

Merry Christmas Everybody

It was just about time for bed, 1966?.........stockings were hung, and I see at least one red and one black stocking from Daddy's drawer (and by the way, where we hung our stockings was where Santa would put our presents.  It did not matter if we were two or 18 years old, the stocking were hung in anticipation and it did not matter that our stockings were picked from Daddy's sock drawer.  The tree was glowing and candles were lit.  I am sure we had just returned from looking at the Christmas lights in Shawnee...another Christmas tradition....and a way to entertain us when we were smaller until bedtime when Santa made his way to our house. 

But...........what really brings a lump to my throat in this picture is Mom reading the Bible Christmas story, Luke, Chapter 2.  This was the last thing we did before going to bed.  This is what puts that lump in my throat.  This was not a posed picture as you can see by our faces.  This was a very reverent time for our family which was rare for a family of seven..........but this Christmas story time was our way of giving glory to God for our Savior Jesus Christ.  Quiet, reverent, and mom's voice. 

Merry Christmas everybody.
I love you.

Christmas Cards

Good evening everybody.  Today we received our very first Christmas card of the season from my newly married niece and her husband.  It was so sweet.  I envied their "newness" if you know what I mean.  This is the first year for them to send out Christmas cards as a couple.  A beginning.  Every experience this year has been a new one.  First Thanksgiving as a married couple.  First Halloween as a married couple.  January 1 will be their first New Years as a married couple and the list goes on and on.  Each year will be stacked with experiences of the previous year until finally they are setting side by side celebrating their many years together.........and looking back at their beginning. 

Not as many people send Christmas cards anymore including me, and I am a traditionalist.  We are seem to be busier than ever.  Gosh, we have too many social media sources and Internet sites we must visit several times a day! 

Last night I was searching for something in the closet and I ran across this card.  It is from my first cousin, twice removed.......or..........my grandma's first cousin.  She was my dad's age and you know how confusing relatives can get when you mix in age differences.  And kids, this is my card not one of mom's that I confiscated.  Just in case you are wondering.

 

This sweet lady made her cards before making cards was cool.  She was a painter......oh I wish I had her talent or any talent for that matter.  I am still searching for my talent.  She would draw and water color a location that they had visited that year and have them printed as Christmas cards.  When I was a kid, we looked forward to her cards and daydreaming of our California cousins and all the exotic places that had visited that year.  Life was better in California, I was sure of that............I know better now, but back then it was other worldly, glamorous.............a long way from the farm and hoeing peanuts.  Later I began to send her Christmas cards myself and she, in kind, sent me one of her cherished cards.

 

 

Remember when you actually got a letter inside a card............

 



   

............and there was more on the back?

Times, they are a changing.

I need to write my cards........it's on my list.

 

Merry Christmas.

 

I love you.



A Little Grandma Memory

This snowy cold morning I decided biscuits, sausage, and gravy would be a great way to start the day and to warm up.  On these cold days I get in a cooking mood...........it is a good way to warm the house, and who doesn't need an extra layer of fat around their bodies so bring on the biscuits and gravy!  Baby, it's cold outside!!!  As I pulled out the Shawnee Mills biscuit mix package, I was reminded of Grandma Dawkins, her short fingers, stiffened with arthritis, mixing the biscuit dough right there in that large wooden bowl.  It was always filled with flour so she'd mix a little baking powder, salt, etc., right into the center of the flour, then she'd form a little well for the milk.  After the milk was mixed in, she'd knead the dough right in the center of the bowl, leaving the excess flour in the bowl for the next need for biscuits.  That took talent.  Just how did she know how much flour to use?  Not so much talent using biscuit mix. 

The last few days I have been cleaning, making lists, cleaning, and preparing to have my family, all 39 of us, at my house for a Christmas party.  I will not lie, I have been more than a little worried; worried about the size of my house versus the size of my family. 

As I was making the biscuits and thinking of Grandma, I remembered all those Christmases at her house...........a four room house.  You heard that right, four rooms, not four bedrooms.  We lived about a half mile from them and I was at her house a lot and I don't ever remember her ever saying a word about the size of her house.  She had that true Christmas spirit in her heart.  She was delighted to have us all there with her.  Not a person sat down at a table and you know what?  We had a wonderful time.  Memories.  

 

 

These are a couple of pictures I took of her and Grandpa on her last Christmas, 1971.  Grandpa with his pipe.  I remember it well.  In the first picture Grandma's eyes didn't have that normal twinkle.  She wasn't doing all that well by then.  She only lived another 2 1/2 months.  In fact, she died two days before my wedding.  That Christmas day, 1971, was spent at Aunt Norma's house, and I think most of us knew it wouldn't be long, but we celebrated Christmas.  We were together and that is all that mattered.  It didn't matter if we were at Aunt Norma's or if we were in that four room house.  We were together.  And look, Grandpa is setting right there next to her.  I don't remember that happening before.  Maybe, I just don't remember.  I find it very touching.

So with a joyful heart and glad tidings in my heart, we are going to celebrate Christmas at my house.  We will be together, all 39 of us............We will have food...........We may not set at the table...........We will be together...........We will celebrate Christmas.........For unto us a Savior is born. 

A little Grandma memory.  I love you.

P. S.  I didn't write this to make you sad, but happy that we had this wonderful woman in our lives.  I am sad to say that not everyone enjoys someone as special as my grandma in their lives.

That year Grandma gave each of us a two dollar bill in an envelope.  Two dollar bills were new back in 1971.  I still have mine.  I will never spend it, nor will I throw away the envelope addressed to me in her handwriting.  Rhonda has Grandpa's pipe in his ashtray displayed at her house and I have that cherished wooden bowl. 

PRECIOUS MEMORIES



Thank You Santa

Good evening all.  I had planned on blogging every day until Christmas, but life and circumstances and ice and snow have gotten in the way.  Maybe I'll be better next week, or maybe even tomorrow.

Today I caught up on all my wrapping or should I say, I wrapped what I have bought so far.  Many, many presents to go but I will get it done.  I started to make Aunt Bill's Candy tonight, but fatigue took over my youthful spirit and sent me straight to the couch.  I think it is time for a movie or two.  Maybe "Elf" tonight.

I have really missed that extra week of Christmas prepping this year.  Thanksgiving gave way to Christmas just a little TOO quickly.  Right now, my outdoor nativity set is in the back yard just waiting for us to set it up in a respectable spot in the front yard.  Oh time............where have you gone this year.  It is hard to believe we only have 18 days to go.

I think of mom and dad a lot, but this time of the year I especially think of mom.  How in the world did she do it?  I mean, really.........how did she do it?  Way back then, she made all four of us girls a special Christmas dress each year, taffetas, satins, velvets, lace...........on my, the work she put in.  It wasn't unheard of for her to also make my little brother a shirt or coat, and maybe she'd find an hour or two to make herself a dress.  Then the candy, Aunt Bill's, Peanut Brittle by the pans, fudge, divinity which had to be made only on certain non-humid days, the list goes on and on.  Then the wrapping!  After a few years, we kids were invited to wrap, or were we "told".  Good thing I watched Judy Harris' 4-H demonstration on wrapping presents.

Yes, I admire my special mother.  I have great respect for her juggling skills, but I have even more respect for her humility and her patience.  When I hear myself gripping about this or that........needing more time to shop, needing an extra pair of hands to make Aunt Bill's, needing extra money to get a special gift for someone, I will remember mom.  Back then Santa Claus didn't wrap our presents because he knew that all that Christmas morning wrapping paper trash would be just a little to much for mom to handle.  Thank you Santa.

I love you!!!!