Santa! I know him!

Okay so who doesn't love Elf?

Our little town hosted a German Christmas Market this weekend so yesterday hubs and I spent a couple of hours walking thru the stalls there. Our little town sits on a beautiful lake and the market was set up on the boardwalk. All the key ingredients were present....a few German crafts, lots of German food, frigid temperatures, gluhwein to keep you warm, lots of snowflakes falling, and of course Santa.

There may not have been a World Heritage Site cathedral like you'll see if you visit the market in Cologne...

or the remains of the Wise Men like you'll see if you go inside the cathedral in Cologne....

and the stalls may not have been strategically placed and beautifully lit just outside the magnificent cathedral like the ones you will see if you visit Cologne...

and you won't have a whole gang of good friends who are willing to examine every Nutcracker, smoker, and pyramid like you had when you visited the market in Cologne, but...

there is a fun sign to mark the entrance....

there is Bratwurst which is essential to Christmas Markets everywhere...like the one in our little town...

and the one in Cologne....

and while the markets are really festive in Cologne....

things are pretty festive here too....

There may not be a magnificent cathedral...

but there is a view like this one...

which is also pretty nice.

Par-tay!

So I know you're all dying to find out if I stooped so low as to snag my own gift at the party last night and the simple answer to that is no. I will confess though that it was not because I wasn't willing but more because...here's the best part...I was the last name drawn...whoohoo! If you've never done one of these exchanges before then you need to know that being last is really like being first. Kinda like winning before the game even begins. If you are last then you get your choice of any gift out there. Well almost any gift because there are always those women who latch onto something and give you a sob story about why they must absolutely have that gift and they put it under their chair or in their lap so you kinda forget its out there and they also tend to play the guilt card which makes you feel like you'd be the lowest form of life for even thinking about taking the gift they chose so you don't. You think really really hard about it but you don't.

Anyway, I chose a gift certificate to a little French bistro here in town that everyone raves about but I haven't managed to get to yet. I love me some jewelry but dining out just might be my love language so its all good. Daughter2 is coming home in less than two weeks and since she is coming directly home to her mama and not making any side treks to the boyfriends house she may just get treated to lunch out at the French Bistro. See it pays to come straight home to mama.

Today I'm baking a chocolate pound cake to take to a party. And guess what...there's an ornament exchange which will be done in the same fashion as last night's gift exchange. I really hope I don't embarrass my husband. He really hopes so too.

While I was baking my cake the piano tuner arrived to tune the piano. Duh. We ended up leaving our piano in England and buying a piano from the people who were selling this house. My husband hit one note on the piano shortly after we moved in and declared it way out of tune. Daughter2 who is my pianist said the same. I am not the person to ask since it all sounds like music to me but the piano tuner confirmed their diagnosis. He gave me all the technical mumbo jumbo but let me summarize for you. The number that is not supposed to be above an 8 ranges anywhere from 56-87 on our piano. Even I don't think that's good. He is going to have to make a second trip out because it seems you can only move it 50 whatevers at one time so while it is hugely improved it is still a teensy bit off key. So he says...it's all music to me. He did play a beautiful Silent Night for me before he left and he also solved a little piano mystery we had going here. There is an electrical chord tucked under one edge of the piano and we had no clue as to what it was for. Turns out there is a dehumidifier inside the piano. The things one learns. Anyway, our piano is sitting in our little sunroom and this may very well be my favorite room in the house. Because its sunny...did I need to say that? As it happens all that fluctuating temperature isn't so great for the instrument so what to do? I really don't want to move the piano and I really don't want to put anything on the windows because the windows y'all...they make the room.

It's a conundrum. I love that word and am happy I finally found an excuse to use it on my blog. Here is a photo of said piano.

And here is a close up of the adorable little hand carved wooden Nativity that now sits upon said piano. I bought this at the Christmas Market in Cologne Germany last December and it is so sweet.

Pictures do not turn out very well when taken in the sunroom because did I mention the windows? Can windows make you happy because these definitely make me happy. Unless I glance out and happen to witness a massacre of sorts but other than that yes, I think windows can make you happy. And so can German Christmas markets. And French markets. Which is where I will be exactly one week from today. Et je suis très excitée.

Everything you wanted to know but were too busy to ask

I'm heading out in just a little while to a dinner party with the women in my neighborhood book club. We are having one of those gift exchanges where you can steal from each other and I'm a little bit afraid my inner competitor might come out in front of women I really don't know all that well. I bought a super cute bracelet from J Crew and I need to know if it's considered bad form to pick your own gift because I'm totally thinking about it. Check back tomorrow to see if I took anyone out in all my excitement.

Now how 'bout some fun? Missy at It’s Almost Naptime posted this on her blog today and since I’ve been at the MallPierOneTargetTheChristmasTreeShoppegrocerystore all day it seemed like a bit of fun might be in order. Feel free to copy and paste to your own blog too…with your own answers of course…I’m all about the giving this Christmas season but only to a point. And I know I answered questions on my blog yesterday but I have a party to attend that is going to require strategy so give me a break....

Everything you Always Wanted to Know About How We Celebrate Christmas but were too Busy to Ask

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?

Egg nog for decorating the tree and then it's pretty much coffee or tea because does anyone else get a stomach ache when they drink egg nog or is that just me?

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?

Santa wraps. And not only does Santa wrap but Santa wraps in special Santa paper and only a few years did Santa's helper forget and wrap some of the non-Santa gifts in Santas special paper. And my kids might be in college now but Santa still wraps. And I’m ‘ahem’ older than college but Santa wraps something for me most years too. I am one big giant child when it comes to Christmas.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?

White on the trees inside and mostly white outside. We’re attempting to put colored lights on one Christmas tree in our yard but so far it has been a fail. And of course by we I mean hubs. I have absolutely nothing to do with lights of any shape size or color, indoors or out. Oh and absolutely definitely positively no flashing.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?

Completely unneccessary : )

5. When do you put your decorations up

Trees the weekend after Thanksgiving. Mostly. I need another tree topper and had to add beads this week but they are mostly done now. Outdoor lights go up then too. And of course they are a work in progress because what in the world is it about the fuses in those things? We can send a man to the moon (supposedly) so you’d think we could get some outdoor lights that don’t blow every third time you hit the switch.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?
Must I really answer this question? I’m still reeling from Thanksgiving. Christmas cookies. And don’t make me pick one because I can’t. Okay wait-buttercreams...they are a hand dipped chocolatey sugary buttery confection that will send you into a sugar high the likes of which you’ve not experienced before. I didn’t let my children have them until they were about 9 and even then I’d only give them ¼ of a piece. Except of course for the year daughter2 was 18 months old and strolled into the kitchen covered in chocolate. My sister (who btw did not yet have children) had given her 3. THREE! When I asked my sister why she said my daughter told her she liked them. Yeah. Her day is coming. Seriously my little munchkin did not shut her eyes the entire night. Instead she stood between my hubs and I who were sleeping in a sofa bed and bounced for four solid hours. Good times. Oh and that sister? Well, she has a 3 year old son now and guess who will be at my house for Christmas? And guess what his auntie will be feeding him?

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?

Santa used to drive around the neighborhood on a firetruck on Christmas Eve and pass out candy canes. And we maybe still stand outside when we're at my moms and wait for him to come by and get all excited like we’re 7 years old.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?

What do you mean ‘the truth about Santa?’

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?

Of course. It’s always jammies. Only the girls though. The boys get nothin'. That's just how we roll.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?

I'm not sure there is a name for my style so let's just go with 'free flowing'. In other words no style. Just pick an ornament and hang it on the tree.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?

Love it but like most things in my life I have rules for snow. I don’t want it before Christmas Eve because my family has to drive to my house up on the mountain. I don’t want it to last too many days past Christmas because that same family has to leave my house on the mountain. And I most definitely don’t want it hanging around until April!

12. Can you ice skate?

Yes. Can I ice skate well? No.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?

My budding beauty vanity...don't you love the name? I got it in maybe first or second grade. It came with makeup and had the cutest little stool with a top that lifted up so you could store stuff in it.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you?

I think you know the answer to this one. I’ll give you a hint….He’s the REASON for the season.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?

Excluding Christmas cookies I love homemade chocolate pound cake and of course angel pie which I actually blogged about here. Kinda sad to say that I blogged about a pie but tis true.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?

We always had to sit on the steps on Christmas morning while my parents got the last minute stuff ready….it was pure torture for us kids and we couldn’t imagine what in the world they could possibly be doing. Now that I’m grown I’m sure they were chugging coffee probably straight out of the pot since they'd most likely gone to bed only an hour before. Of course I completely understand it now but back then…torture. My dad had to light the fire and get the camera ready and take a picture of the four of us on the steps waiting to burst into the living room. And naturally we’ve made our own kids do the same and they also consider it torture but that’s my tradition and you don’t mess with tradition.

17. What tops your tree?

Well, there’s an angel on one tree and I realized this weekend that having two trees means I need another topper. It may be a bow because I might not be able to face another trek to the decorating dept.

18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving?

I’m supposed to say giving right?

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?

Again with the choices…O Holy Night, Silent Night, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Heirloom by Amy Grant, Ring The Bells by Travis Cottrell, Tender Tennessee Christmas also by Amy Grant….just to name a few.

20. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum?

Not for me but my oldest daughter will choose a candy cane over a bag of m & m’s…whose child is she anyway?

21 Favorite Christmas Show?

White Christmas…Sisters, sisters...gotta love it!

22. Saddest Christmas Song?

I don’t know …how about Elvis Presley's ‘I’ll have a blue Christmas without you’…a pastor at our church growing up told the story about how he asked a woman to sing a song one year on Christmas morning and she surprised him by singing this one which, as you might have guessed, wasn’t exactly what he had in mind when he asked her to sing.

I'd love to read your answers so leave me a comment if you play along. Or if you don't. : )

It's Beginning to Look alot Like Another Random

I'm participating in the weekly random again this week. It's hosted every Wednesday by Linda at 2nd Cup of Coffee and she always has an interesting mix of questions...hence the name 'random'. Anyway, everyone is invited to play along...just answer the questions on your own blog and link here so we can all read your answers.

1. Which Wizard of Oz character are you most like?

Hmmm…Glinda? She seems even-tempered and optimistic and she has a great dress.

2. When you're deciding what you're going to wear each morning, which item do you select first? Why?

If I’m not going anywhere the bottom part is easy…jeans… I heart them. If I’m going out I often think about the shoes (See question #10) and plan accordingly.

3. What kind of animal do you think the world could live without?

I think we probably need them all, that each serves some purpose in creation and if we take one out we will upset the delicate balance that God put in place.

4. How many Christmas trees are in your home?

Three at the moment.

5. Would you prefer to be emotionless if it meant you didn't have to feel a heartbreak?

Absolutely not…I would never want to live without emotion.

6. Do you ever experience holiday let-down or depression?

Not depression but I might feel a little bit let down as January rolls around. It isn’t so much connected to the holiday itself but more to the point that a holiday ending means my girls will go back to university and I love having them home, snug in their beds and at the breakfast table…well, dinner table…they aren’t exactly morning people.

7. Do you like Michael Jackson's music?

You wanna be starting something with this question? Yes…I saw him in concert back in the early 80s. Such an incredible amount of talent…such a sad story.

8. Why is it that we never judge people who have their teeth fixed for cosmetic reasons, but every other cosmetic procedure has a stigma?

I'm not sure every procedure has a stigma...I think it is all about the 'why'. So many procedures are connected to making us look younger but I'm not sure that's the case with our teeth. One of the first things I notice about a person is their smile (or lack thereof). I know we aren't to judge based on first impressions but we do make them. Bad teeth can sometimes keep a person from smiling and feeling confident. It's such a simple thing to correct and it's usually non-surgical. I say go for it...a smile is a beautiful thing.

9. Enjoy horseback riding?

Yes, within reason…I’ve only gone a few times in the past 10 years, all while on holidays. We went once in AZ which I loved because it was a slow meander thru the desert. My husband did not enjoy this as much because did I mention it was a slow meander? We went once in St. Lucia and my husband loved this trek because it started with a trot down a very steep road and then you could gallop across the beach and run the horses into the water. I did not enjoy this one as much because did I mention we had to trot down a steep slippery road and run on the beach? I think you’re getting the picture now. We rode in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee too and this was just right for all of us.

10. Shoes--practical or stylish?

Stylish all the way. Seriously, unless you are working construction or climbing Everest or performing brain surgery shoes should be all about style.

11. What was the name of your first pet? Feel free to post a pic.

A sweet little puppy named Queenie…we didn’t have her long…she was the runt of a mixed breed litter and wasn’t healthy. After Queenie we inherited a wire haired terrier named Misty who lived to be 16 so she was our pet during most of my growing up years. I’ve had two dogs since I got married…Abbey who was a shepherd collie mix and also a wonderful dog who lived to be 16. Then there is our current crazy Gordon Setter who is without a doubt the sweetest animal I’ve ever known. You can see her decked out for Christmas in this post from last year.

12. What percentage of your Christmas shopping is done?

Maybe 1/3…yeah…gotta get on that.

Hello December

I know you are expecting something all Christmasy in this post since I did mention December in the title but hold your rocking horses for just a minute. Before we kick into sugarplum mode I think I'd like to say just a few words about the month that was.

During the month of November I participated in a little gratitude meme hosted by Leah at South Breeze Farm. It was a simple act really...I was to list one specific thing that I felt especially thankful for each day leading up to Thanksgiving and I must say that I absolutely loved this. I found myself thinking about what I'd add to my list as I went thru my day, when I went to bed at night and especially first thing upon waking. I loved that each morning when I sat down at my blog my thoughts went immediately to a place of gratitude...not to a place of worry, not to a place of complaint or self-pity, not even to my extremely lengthy to-do list...instead my thoughts were filled with all the things in my life for which I'm grateful. And I realized there are many.

I changed my blog background today...my previous background was full of fall colors and they felt out of place in this month of reds and greens and golds and silvers. It feels like our focus wants to change this month as well. As Thanksgiving approaches we somehow manage to take a collective breath and step back long enough to recognize how much we have to be thankful for...we make an effort to be grateful, often even in circumstances where gratitude is not the obvious response. And then December comes. Almost overnite it seems we move from November's quiet contemplation to December's activity bordering on exhaustion.

Like everyone I have a laundry list of jobs to complete before Christmas Day. Shopping, cooking, cleaning, wrapping and making my house ready for lots of company...I'm sure yours is similar. Sometimes those things make me cranky. Really cranky. But I don't want to be cranky. I want to be grateful. December is here with all its joys and stresses and it is in this month that I want to remember the spirit of thankfulness that filled my November. I want the words 'be grateful' to remain at the top of my to-do list each day.

So bring on December with all its busy-ness, late nights, early mornings, spending and wrapping and baking and houseguests and even the laundry...in the midst of it all I will find my November.

And just in case you don't study my sidebar when you visit, here is my list from the meme-

I am thankful for...

holiday traditions

nephews

sweet daughters

music

live theatre

my central vacuum

a clean house and a well stocked frig

great books

lunches out

my sweet mother

safe airline travel

the mountains of East Tennessee

sunshine and warm weather

college friends and our shared memories

my husband

Camp Sandy Cove friends and memories

good health

my brother (Happy Birthday S!)

old friends

Mexican food

those who serve our country

sisters

a full moon peeking thru the trees

the right to vote

deer on the backyard hillside early in the morning

the colors of autumn

A lot of a lots

I have been away from my computer for most of the past week due to the fact that I was cooking. A lot. And had a houseful of company. A lot. And my daughters were home and we needed to talk. A lot. And laugh. A lot. And today I am feeling slightly overwhelmed by all the words in my brain so I'm just going to dive right in and leave a few here.

Thanksgiving. Lovely. Filled with family and food and my sweet daughters and two little nephews who we loved having in the house.

Oh and fyi- little boys are completely different than little girls and I'm not talking about just the obvious here. Little boys can make all things silly. And little girls can talk. Boy can they ever talk! After dinner one night we sat around the table and my two daughters were telling stories about this and that and I wish you could have seen my nephews faces. I should probably add here that my girls talk reallyreallyreallyfast and they were telling these stories in a sort of tag team fashion and those little boys were completely mesmerized. Not so much with the content but more with the speed and all the words and the animation on my daughters faces. They sat absolutely frozen in their seats looking from one girl cousin to the other...kind of like a tennis match. They were trying their best to follow what the girls were saying but it was pretty much futile. My husband says they shouldn't worry though...that's how he feels most nights at the dinner table when the girls and I get to talking.

We were really hoping to have some wildlife in the yard to show the boys while they were here but I think the forest animals knew this was a holiday in which to lay low. Of course just a few hours after everyone took off we glanced out back to see 8 wild turkeys.

I suppose they knew we'd had our fill of bird on Thursday and Friday and that it was safe to come out. On Sunday morning we awoke to deer in the yard...four of them. Maybe they were with family for the holiday too and are just now getting back home. They are beautiful, particularly the bucks, and I did take a couple of photos but they were thru the window and the glare is bad so I'm not posting. I can't step outside to get their picture anymore as they freak when they see me raise my hand to my eye. I've tried telling them its just a camera but they're not taking any chances.

After all the company left on Saturday we went to see The Blindside. If you haven't seen this movie get yourself to a theatre...such a heartwarming story about love in action and how that impacts a life. Oh, and take some kleenex because you'll need it. And of course after a good cry you need food so we stopped at a favorite pizza place on the way home. Ahh....pizza...it's the anti-turkey.

The girls were headed back to uni on Sunday but before they left for the airport we did pull out the Christmas decorations and had a little tree trimming party complete with eggnog. We drink our eggnog in our German Christmas market mugs because that makes us happy. It was fun to pull out all the decorations this year. When we moved to the UK we only took about half of our Christmas boxes with us and the rest went to storage so a lot of the items we hadn't seen in several years. I have lots of Snow Village pieces and none of them came with us to the UK since the electrical current there is scary and is also the reason why there are no outlets in the bathrooms. The plus side is water boils instantly in the electric kettles there. Ooops-tangent. Told you...words...I have a lot of them.

Anyway, when we decorate our Christmas tree every year it is tradition that hubs hides the pickle ornament and the girls have to find it hidden in one of the Christmas trees. Except of course my husband gave up years ago putting it in the tree and now they pretty much have to look all over the house to find it. Hiding a pickle ornament is supposedly a German tradition that says whoever finds the pickle will get an extra treat from St. Nick. This is perhaps more of a myth since the Germans I know have never heard of it but its still fun.

This year hubs left the pickle in a really obvious spot and the girls walked by it a couple of times before daughter1 finally noticed it hanging on the clock case. Whoever finds it hangs it somewhere on the tree...not sure they view that as an 'extra treat' but that's all I got.

I can't finish this Thanksgiving post without a brief mention of the angel pie. Firstly, these cuties baked the pies this year.

Let's just take a moment here.

If you are thinking that it looks like scrumptious custardy wonderfulness then you would be correct. Several people asked me last week for the recipe after I mentioned it in a post and I fully intended to publish it right here on the blog because I'm nice like that. However.... my sister in law was here and she threatened to have her husband hack into my blog and remove it if I dared and my brother in law is a bit of a computer whiz so I'm thinking I best not. I am on email though, wink wink.

Whew. Like I said...a lot of words. I feel better now so thank you.

The random in which I mention angel pie...a little slice of heaven

The weekly random dozen lands a day early this week due to the holiday. If you'd like to join the fun just answer these questions on your own blog and link your answers here. Happy Thanksgiving!

1. Are you sticking to traditional Thanksgiving foods this year, or are you being culinarily adventurous?



Traditional…don’t want a revolt here now do we?

2. Tell me something concrete that you're thankful for. (Something you can literally touch, see, etc., not a concept like "hope.")



my home…we have been renters for the past six years while living overseas. We loved our house in the UK…it was completely charming but we couldn’t really put our own personal touch on the paint, window treatments, flooring. Plus the house had lots of wallpaper and we didn’t want to put any holes in the wall so all my pictures have been hung too high for the past six years…we just put them where there were already hooks in place. I’m not complaining because I truly did love that house like it was my own and the owners were wonderful people and did I mention the garden..sigh. Still it is fun to be in our new house this year and we’re really enjoying decorating and making it feel like home. I especially love my kitchen and am excited about all the cooking.

3. You knew the flip side was coming: Share about something intangible that you're thankful for.



I like your example-hope. Where would we be in this crazy mixed up world without it? Hope for a future and hope for eternity.

4. Share one vivid Thanksgiving memory. It doesn't have to be deep or meaningful, just something that remains etched in your memory.



Nothing specific springs to mind and in fact it is probably the 'sameness' from year to year that I love the most. I enjoy thinking back to Thanksgivings growing up...helping my mom in the kitchen, my dad carving the turkey, family all around the table, the smells...happy times. This is what I've tried to recreate in my own family. I love to have extended family and friends at the table too...it somehow makes the meal more special.

5. What is one thing you know without a shadow of a doubt is going to happen this Thanksgiving because it always does, year after year?

Well overeating comes to mind. I'm determined not to but I'm pretty sure I say that every year.

6. Do your pets get any left-overs?



Are you kidding me??? Of course.

7. Does your family pray before the big meal? If so, do you join hands while seated, stand, repeat a formal prayer or offer a spontaneous prayer? Who does the praying?



Well, we pray before every dinner and we always hold hands and we always stay seated. And it is the same on Thanksgiving. The 'who' will vary...probably my hubs but sometimes it is one of my daughters and sometimes me. And it is always spontaneous.

8. Will you be watching football in the afternoon? If not, what will you be doing?

definitely watching football unless of course I'm napping which is also a favorite Thanksgiving day activity

9. There are two distinct camps of people on the issue: How do you feel about oysters in the dressing/stuffing?

No oysters in the stuffing...I love oysters but no no no-not in the stuffing on Thanksgiving. Must not mess with perfection.

10. Do you consider yourself well informed about the first Thanksgiving?

yes

11. Which variety of pie will you be enjoying?



A tiny sliver of pumpkin with lots of whipped cream because I must save room for my very favorite-angel pie. If you are not familiar with this deliciousness you should be...it is a meringue crust with a custard filling, topped with whipped cream and shaved German chocolate. Oh my.

12. Do you feel for the turkey?? (This is a humorous throw back question related to the 12th question in another Random Dozen!)

nope