Dinner Party

Real quick post here.  We had a small dinner party at our cabin last night and I have to say it went MARVELOUS!  Of course I didn't take pictures so sorry!  I wanted to do something different and I had a beef tenderloin in the freezer so that is what I decided to do.  As the guest list grew I decided that I needed a bit more and purchased a half of another tenderloin.  It was perfect.  Beef tenderloin is one of the easiest things to fix.  I crushed green, pink, white, and black peppercorns, added a bit of garlic powder and kosher salt to the mixture.  I took the tenders out of the fridge to get to room temperature for about an hour.  I patted the meat a bit dry and then rolled them in the peppercorn mixture.  The oven was preheated to 425 degrees.  The tenders were on a cookie sheet and The Hubby found his meat thermometer to help attain the best internal temp of between 125-130 degrees for medium rare.  They only cook about 20-25 minutes to attain that temperature.  After they hit the magic temp I took them out and (DON'T TOUCH THE PROBE WITH BARE FINGERS) tented them with foil to rest for 15-20 minutes.  Then slice and serve.  YUMMY! One of the guest brought cheese grits and another a salad.  A few more guests had the appetizer bit and that was perfect too.  Man the whole dinner was top notch and such fun.  Dinner, friends, a roaring fire, good food, now that is an evening.  Kind of my Christmas gift to my friends!  

Holiday Review

Here it is the last weekend of 2012 and I guess, if I must write something.  I've been so gone lately from this blog.  I've just been so busy and honestly I'm afraid to write some stuff that I want to vent about.  I guess I have vented a bit after the Thanksgiving theft.  Christmas was a bit tamer for sure.  Christmas Eve was at The Hubby's nephew's house with his sweet family.  Our great nephews are growing like weeds.  Of course we had the mother-in-law, brother-in-law and husband, and our sweet Rio, Bri and Brent.  There is just nothing like the awe of Christmas through a kids eye.  Rio followed the boys all through the house just giggling and do a lot of "WOW"!  She is a stitch.  

They didn't get to stay too long as it was getting past the little one's bedtime and they were to be off early in the morn to spend Christmas with Brent's family.

Christmas morning started off tame as we readied to go to Daddy's and have brunch with my siblings and their families.  We said 10 and my brother and his fam and The Hubby and I were there at 10...tick-tock, tick-tock as we waited.  10:30 rolled around and I sent a text to my sis, nothing.  Finally at 11 I said, "THAT'S IT!  We're eating."  No sooner than we sat with forks poised to enter our mouths with lukewarm food than the family rumble of their Camero rolled into the driveway.  She walked in and was aghast and said, "I thought it was 11 and I brought stuff to make gravy (since that is what I asked her to bring.)  Nope that's alright bacon will be just fine.  Shortly after their arrival the niece and hubby rolled in.  She was obviously a bit something with her eyes rolling back in her head as she ate and then suddenly SHE HAD TO LEAVE!  Her other uncle (her dad's bro) called and said he HAD to see her right then.  She was in a huge rush to get out.  I kind of yelled, "Hey, you have time to open your presents.  YOU CAN'T LEAVE!"  Of course all we gave them were gift cards but that is fine.  I wasn't going to give anything but The Hubby made me feel bad, really!  Of course, my sister didn't give anything to the other "children" and hasn't for a long time.  I guess maybe we could do that too and only give to Rio and the nephew that is still only 15.  That would be just fine with me.  

I guess maybe I'm just an old Scrooge, but I have a bad taste in my mouth.  All in all we had a very nice Christmas.  It was quite and the best was time with family and smooching the sweetness that is Rio!

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS 

To One And All

Christmas Memories

Being a bit nostalgic this morning.  I've been going through old pictures again.  Bro, Sis and I and sweet Susie.  As I look at the photo there are tons of memories that several objects in the photo provoke.  What a wonderful kitty she was.  She had several litters of kittens and was the best kitty-mother ever.  We got her when we were living in Arkansas I think.  She had worms very bad and a horrible abscess in her bottom jaw that caused a good many of her bottom teeth to fall out.  Since she was missing the bottom teeth her tongue would slip out when she purred.  The PJ's Momma made for us for Christmas were quilted and very warm.  See behind my head, there is that stick looking thing, well, that was a floor to ceiling lamp.  It twisted to lock up to the ceiling. there were three lamps on it.  Very in right now.  The piano where all three of us kids learned to play.  That poor piano's final resting place was on the back porch, Bro's leaky bedroom.  The water damage ruined it but it gave us many years of enjoyment.  I still have that sheet music and play it sometimes, one of my recital pieces.  In fact the lady that taught us, Betty Sumner passed away last month.  She taught mother a bit too.  

Now here we are at Grandma and Grandpa's on the other end of Main Street in Broken Arrow.  That house is a hospice.  We had many, many Christmas's and wonderful times in that house.  Daddy lived there while he was in high school.  There is Grandpa, me, my Bro and Sis and two of our cousins, Deana and Mike.  Awwww, the memories.   

We were always expected for Christmas morning at Grandma and Grandpa's (Daddy's parents) for many years and then it became Christmas Eve which opened us up to spend Christmas day at Granny and Granddaddy's (Mother's parents).  

Sick Kiddo

Last night I received a call from LA, from Afton.  She is sick.  Fever, chills and the probability of a UTI and kidney stones.  Poor baby.  I am so far away from my baby but I know that she has Nick and a plethora of friends to be there for her.  That is what happens when you are thousands of miles away from family, you have pseudo family.  Apparently when I hung up with her, her friends were in route to rescue, and Nick was not far behind coming from a gig.  By the time they got their her fever was 102.3 and she was convulsing.  They rushed her to the ER where I got more texts from her.  She was better and the fever was going down, convulsing probably from the high fever.  All night I didn't receive a text or phone call so I was not too worried.  They would call!  Finally, I see on Facebook that she is home having been given antibiotics for the UTI and the probability that she has passed the stone.  Poor baby!  She was so scared away from family, from home and not being this sick, ever.  Well, I say that but when she was a wee one she had UTI's, a lot, as did I and my mother, so this does not a surprise to me at all.  I'm just glad she is home, with Nick, and her kitties and has a fabulous array of great friends to care for her in my absence.

Ice, Ice Baby

The sky is falling, the sky is falling.  That is what the weather people were screaming yesterday.  Yes we did get some ice and areas to the north of here did too, it but it's not as bad as we had some years ago that devastated Tulsa (I think '07).  I did hear in the middle of the night the familiar sound of transformers buzzing as they go out.  Gosh, such a scary sound.  

The next year was the best year in business for us.  We do electrical stuff and the work was constant for the year.  Plus our generator installation side really took off and is still a huge part of our work.  Generator baby!

(from the '07)

Last night as the temperatures began to plummet I told The Hubby that we were going to go off the diet a bit and have beans and cornbread for dinner on Saturday.  Perfect chilly weather for it.  Speaking of the diet, I am down yet another pound, that would be 26 pounds.  It may be a slow process but at least I lost a pound during the holidays!

Yesterday we took our employees out to a Christmas lunch to Olive Garden.  In the past we have done a rib place but last year the service SUCKED!  The Hubby decided OG and it was a great decision.  One of our guys, when he found out where we were going, was like a kid he was so happy.  He had NEVER eaten at OG before.  Really?!  

It was a nice lunch and we were glad to do it.  I was very good there, as I did have pasta and a half a piece of bread but I only ate half the pasta dish.  It will be my lunch today.  Really, as long as I stay on he moderation side I can eat out and anything I want.  This no bread, pasta, potatoes or rice thing has been awesome for me.  We don't miss it and eat tons of veggies.  

Random 5 Friday

I'm trying something new here from A Rural Journal, it's a Random 5 Friday. 

1.  I like routine.  I was not like that in my early years yet here I am approaching my 58th year and I am a routine person.  Does that come with age?  I think it kind of does for all of us.  It's just how things roll.  I am up the same time.  I have breakfast the same time.  I do the same things every morning the SAME!  The evening rituals are the same way too.  Not sure how I feel about this.  Hated it when my mother started doing it.

2.  I love books, I mean I LOVE books!  I love to own books.  When we were children my mother made sure we all had library cards and we were constant visitors to the library.  I could sit in there for hours and look at books.  Even though I love the library what is even better is to OWN books.  Oh gosh I hated it when Borders went out of business.  I would walk in the door to their tables of new releases and my arms would be full of books.  I could not walk out of that store without spending a couple hundred dollars on books.  The smell, the sound, the feel of the paper...I LOVE owning books as is evident by the piles that are in various places in my house.  Have I read all of them...not yet!

3.   I always wanted to be a writer, a fiction writer.  I found a few years ago that I am not very good at writing, or at least fiction.  Probably because I use "I" a lot!!!  It happens a lot when you write a blog as you usually are writing a lot about yourself.  I may not be a fiction writer but I am a writer!  I am a blog writer and I think I'm okay at it.  (My girls are fantastic writers.)  

It's fun and I've been doing in nearly 8 years now, here!  Did you know I print off every blog post I write.  I keep them in three-ring binders and dated.  One of these days my girls (they already to) or granddaughter or great-grandkiddos will read them and understand me more.  I recently found a site that I printed 2012 in a hardbound book!  There you go, I'm a writer and I am hardbound!

(This random 5 thing is kind of tough!)

4.  I hate winter.  Did I tell you that already!  I HATE WINTER!  It's just not pretty and it is dang cold.  It's hard on people financially and physically.  At least the physical for me.  I get chilled and I will not really get warm until spring.  I have to work very hard to not get depressed and eat myself into oblivion.  Snow is pretty, as long as I don't have to get out in it.  I get through the winter knowing that spring is just a few months away and I will see green again!

5.  I am a crafter at heart.  I crochet, I knit (a bit), I love little counted cross-stitch ornaments and oh yeah, I'm an artist.  I love that I have found my creative side.  It's always been there but this oil painting thing has give me a whole new dimension to ME!  I may never sell stuff for thousands of dollars but I do sell and that has done more for my confidence than you can imagine.  I think we grow as human beings until the day we die, and I don't me physically, I mean mentally.  We become more well-rounded, at least I have.  I hope to be an inspiration to my girls and granddaughter!  

Reflection of a Drilling

Reflecting, that is what I am doing right now, this morning.  Listening to our daughter's beautiful music before getting ready to go to the dentist for my 6 month cleaning.  I remember being so scared when I was a child of the dentist.  I used to absolutely white-knuckle the arm of the chair, much like I used to do when flying.  What brought about this fear I ask myself.  Momma took we three kid for our regular check ups and it wasn't really scary.  Mother made sure we had our teeth taken care of.  Unfortunately we had horrible teeth, like my father and his side of the family.  Momma wanted to make sure they weren't so bad that we were spitting out teeth that were rotten, like my Daddy and one of his sisters.  My aunt had such bad teeth that she had dentures before she was in her 20's.  That is BAD!  But I guess back then they didn't know that much about mouth care.  Back to the white knuckling thing.  When you are child the scary thing about the dentist are the smells and the sound of that dang drill.  It can really give a sense of unease.  

I have spent a lot of time in that chair with nearly every tooth in the back, up and down filled with various kinds of fillings, be it gold, silver or even porcelain crowns.  Cross my fingers I never have to have a root canal!  Of we three siblings the worst, crooked teeth, were mine.  I had fangs and an overlapping mess, plus a horrible cross-bite going on.  My parents could not afford braces in the day but my maternal grandparents were there to help.  They paid $1,000 to have my teeth straightened.  For three long years I was in two different kinds of retainers that the dentist tweeked and tightened every 4-6 weeks.  It also took that 3 years to pay the entire $1,000 off for my parents and grandparents but they knew that I was in dire need of the treatment.  I have to tell you though that first night, with those things in my mouth, I have never EVER had a headache that bad in my life.  I was in horrible pain.  I was then supposed to take the things (upper and lowers) out to brush my teeth but I could not get them back in and had to walk to the dentist at lunch time from school to have him put it back.  Braces were relatively new in my school so I was kind of an oddity then.  One doofus insisted on calling me snaggle-tooth for a good part of my 7th grade.  Don't know what happened to him to this day.  Having the retainers in the 7th grade was horrible for a girl who had absolutely NO self-esteem.  Plus I had just gotten over having the broken leg thing in 6th grade and out nearly 6 months of that school year plus we were then attending junior high.  Let's just say my 7th grade year, the only thing good to come out of that year was meeting my best friend then, Sharon.  In fact most of the junior high years (7-9) were a blur.  Junior high was mostly a horrible time for me as probably it is for most kiddos.  Let's see, hormones (periods), braces/retainers, teasers, boys, girls, friends...oh the list can go on.  I think those ages are the most important and the hardest on a kid.  It truly was for me.  

Granny Fail

ME

I am a granny fail.  Last night we were to keep Rio overnight and everything seemed to be going great until bedtime.  I think the bad stuff started earlier in the day at the office.  I was trying to put her down for her nap and usually it is no problem.  I pick her up pat a few times and then she is asleep.  Yesterday she wanted her momma and cried and cried and sobbed and sobbed until Briana had to come in and take over.   

Rio and Vera

So then they brought her over about dinner time and as it turned out we went next door for a holiday drink with the neighbors and I took her over to show off.  She was so sweet and sat in my lap for about 20 minutes eating cheese and being adorable.  I left before The Hubby to feed her and get her ready for bed.  Dinner was a great success with squash, cottage cheese and dried pears.  She did a lot of walking around and around the house and every time she got close to her bedroom with the sound machine on and lights low she would cry.  I had an inkling that something was not right with that.  I then began the routine for bedtime.  We brushed her teeth, changed the diaper, lotioned, pajamas and read her little "Good Night Moon" book.  Bottle and sound machine on but WOW, nothing to do with closing the eyes.  She started to nod off until Clayton pushed open the door and cried to get on the bed where we were sitting.  RATS!  Then it was on, the crying and sobbing and screaming and squirming.  I spent 15 minutes with that and was wrung out.  I could not stand for her to be so upset, my heart was breaking.  She was so upset with the crying and she was doing the hiccuping thing.  We went into the living room and I sent a text to Briana that I didn't think it was going to work.  She said she would come get her but I should persist, that eventually she would give it up.  I guess I just am not tough enough anymore.  I could not stand to see the usually happy Rio so upset.  The Hubby said, "Why did you do that.  Just let her cry!" Oh gosh, I just have lost my confidence in childcare but I think it's a combination of things.  I didn't want to have Rio not like being at Granny's and not like her room.  (I have got to clean out the guest room - paintings to the ceiling.)  I caved and had to be rescued.  I think too I don't want to rock the routine that B&B have set up for Rio but maybe I need to do Granny rules at Granny's house.  This has got to be fixed as we are going to try this again on New Year's Eve and there is no calling to be rescued.  It is definitely an all-nighter as they are having a huge party.  I need to get the easy flow of getting her down again.  I don't want to be a Granny Failure.  

Selfie

All dressed up for workout this morning and with a little slipping and sliding I headed back into the garage and hit the bike instead.  I'm at least staying the same weight during this holiday season but being stuck inside away from party stuff it has been easy.  Last night was our bank Christmas party and I dolled up with the hair and dress.  Unfortunately I forgot to get a snapshot.  I wore a dress that I had from last Christmas and boy did it fit MUCH better.  Not tight at all and I didn't look like a stuffed sausage.  Felt quite pretty!

This morning the hair still has some pretty so I just brushed, fluffed and sprayed!  Too much washing can do make my hair weirdly dry yet oily.  Can't explain it.   

A Splash of Paint

During this extended time spent inside from the snow I got busy this weekend and finished "Little Pimmy".  She was Bri's sweet kitty that passed this year.  Bri had this awesome closeup picture of her and I just HAD to paint it.  I think it turned out really well.  Of course, the painting will go to Bri, if she wants it.  I'm quite pleased and it was fun to paint.

Time spent inside has given me the time to paint. Then I shopped a bit online and played gin on ClubPogo to pass more time.  While perusing the Internet I sipped a bit of hot tea out of one of my many, MANY tea cups that seem to keep being left to me.  I have so many of these little jewels I decided to start using them instead of letting them sit in a closed cabinet gathering dust.  Isn't this one lovely.  I have them from my greatgranny, granny, mother, grandmother and mother-in-law, I HAVE TONS!

I forgot to post this one.  While Afton was home I wanted to go see my painting at the Philbrook Festival of Trees.  I was so excited to see it hanging on the walls.  As far as I know it is still unsold as are most of the paintings, gingerbread houses and trees, for a fundraiser, not good.  Of course, it has been a couple of weeks since I was there and there is still a week to go!  Keep your fingers crossed.  It was fun to take Rio to Philbrook for the very first time of her life.  My granny took us when we were children once and in her stack of old pictures there was one of the front of Philbrook, either before it was a museum or just as it was turned into one.  

Oh, and in January I have another opportunity for a quick art show for a weekend.  Will give details soon.

Gift Giving, Or Not

Here we are still snowed in and it looks to continue for several more days.  Yesterday was a very busy day and I didn't leave the house.  I painted, wrapped presents and finished my shopping, except for one gift card.  I just wait for the mail person to drop the rest in my mail basket.

Speaking of gift cards, I was in a bit of a quandary with what to do with my niece.  You see, after the Thanksgiving debacle of the missing money and soggy pills I am very reluctant to give her anything for Christmas.  Several years ago we all agreed that we would only buy for the kiddos and she is still considered one of the kiddos.  Well, I bought gift cards for my other niece and her hubby and then for the nephew but I just didn't want to give anything to the niece.  In fact, I didn't even want her at our Christmas brunch at Daddy's but The Hubby made me see differently.  First I must say my mother-in-law told us not to make a deal out of the missing money, to let the situation lie.  Then yesterday The Hubby, after voicing my concerns about Christmas morning, told me that since we have no proof (right) that the money was taken by the niece or her husband we can't exclude her.  He said the best approach is that when us ladies come in we should put our purses in the center of the room, in front of the television and keep an eagle eye on said niece.  Enjoy the food and Christmas morning with Daddy and be done with it.  That still leaves me thinking about the gift thing, but I have decided to get her a grocery store gift card.  So that is the one card I have to buy, very reluctantly.  

Such a sad situation for sure and I so hope she can make something of her life and better herself, but it's not looking good for her.  

Ramble

Trying to find something to spill my guts about but just can't think of what to write so it's going to be a ramble today.  Hang on, let's GO.......

Well, well, well, it is snowing!  Winter is here.  It's very pretty but of course it is not my favorite time of year.  I am staying safe and warm INSIDE!  It is time to wrap presents, bake, paint, read, yes all the things I need to catch up on.  I think my Christmas shopping is close to being done and I have not once hit the mall!  I am an online shopper and quite content with that.  This time of year I would very happy if I didn't have to leave the house until March!  But, of course that is not possible in my life so venture out I will do, eventually!  The snow is giving The Hubby a chance to finally turn on the snowmelt in the driveway he installed a couple of years ago!

Watched most of The Sound of Music last night with Carrie Underwood.  What do people think of her replacing Julie Andrews on Facebook!  Oh, it was not to kind at all watching some of the feeds.  Honestly, I didn't like it very much either.  Although I am a fan of her singing this was not her venue for sure and her acting, well, I will be kind and tell her to stick with singing.  It was an event and that is all I will say.  

All the news is non-news since yesterday.  We're getting a blow-by-blow of snowflakes falling and absolutely NO NEWS.  I know it's all about the safety of everyone on the roads but it's not like a tornado going through.  SNOW, SNOW, SNOW, SNOW, SNOW, SNOW, SNOW, SNOW.....

Leaf Play

Thanksgiving is now done and so we rush into Christmas.  Afton is heading home, her home in LA and her love Nick this morning and it is truly sad to see her go.  Saying that I know she is looking forward to being at HER home with her Nick.  The visit has been awesome, especially her getting to spend time with her niece, our granddaughter, Rio.  They had a wonderful time yesterday at Woodward Park.

Rio LOVED playing in the leaves. 

My BEAUTIFUL girls... 

The innocence of a child. 

Now we plan for Christmas.  My tree is up (thank you family) and a good part of my Christmas is bought.  Just need to finish up and bake a bit and I will be READY!  

HO-HO-HO