note to self

Remember to smile in a school picture. And to get my hair off my face.

I really was a happy little child, I swear.

Merry Christmas.

and to all a good night

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow

Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!

On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,

With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;

He had a broad face and a little round belly,

That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."


Happy Christmas to y'all! I hope it's filled with lots of laughter and fun!

breathe in, breathe out

I woke up this morning to the sound of Reggie hitting the deck boards. His legs were all over the place, his head was shaking, his eyes were twitching. A flurry of movement later and before I knew it, Dad had called Kristen and Valerie home and Reggie was being hoisted by Dad into the van.

All I could do was cry. (I've been doing that a lot this week, haven't I?)

Kristen and Valerie came home and we drove off to meet Mom and Dad at the animal hospital with Reggie.

We got there and got Reggie's diagnoses.

All this time I was seriously thinking we wouldn't have Reggie greeting us Christmas morning. Hence the sobbing.

Turns out what he has isn't nearly as scary as it look, and it's treatable.

About three medications later Reggie seems to be perfectly normal. Thank you God!

You know--when I was thinking Reggie was a goner--I realized why exactly I had gotten that darn cold. If I hadn't gotten sick, then I would've been gone Saturday morning, wouldn't have charged by cell phone, I would've been at a strange place, and missed Reggie's passing.  (Luckily that last part didn't happen)

Ah, there really is a method to the madness.

to.do

Ravelry is addictive. Thanks to browsing I know have three four sweaters I want to try.

Well, at least I know which ones I want to do first:

(photo credit: Berroco on Ravelry)



Not exactly this, but the basic idea of a grey pullover with a neat collar. Forget the pockets. I already have the yarn which is awesome!

(photo credit: Debbie Bliss on Ravelry)
Okay, this is a little hard to explain. Mine will have the same collar and sleeve length, but no cables. And a bulky weight yarn.

(photo credit: j.crew online)



I really really want to copy this exactly, but using my own pattern.Still have to find the right yarn though.

(photo credit: waxx on Ravelry)
And this because, well, it's just adorable. It's kinda Anthropologie!

So that's my list.

I'm going to have to hire people to help me knit all of these.

::cough cough:: ::sniff sniff::

For the past several weeks my sister Kristen and I have been planning our cookie exchange. It starts at 7.3o tonight and we're all wearing are pretty cocktail dresses.

Well, everyone except me. Because I'm not going.

Yes, the co-host of this shin-dig is out sick. ::cough cough::

Excuse me.

I really have no idea how I picked this up so quickly. I come in contact with a lot of people on Tuesday, but Wednesday I had absolutely no symptoms. Thursday however I woke up with the worst sore throat ever.

Oh dear.

So here I sit, Netflix just shorted out--again. I'm achy, coughing every few seconds, I still have a sore throat, and sniffles. It's now 4.27, and I should've been getting ready.

Thank you, dear mystery illness, I owe you a ton.

NOT.

out with a cry

so i had this editorial i needed to turn into my writing class today, right?

no problem.

i finished it, proofread it, saved it, and went to send it in.

i couldn't find it.

that's when tears began to pour out and i dragged my poor dad out from his bed to the laptop to try to find it.

did i mention that the deadline was fifteen minutes away?

oh yes.

dad heroically searched until miracle of miracles, he found it.

with a minute to spare.

so apparently (and i have NO idea how) the file somehow got converted to another type of file (temp something?) and that's why i couldn't find it.

but dad could.

love you, dad!

quiche

I think quiche is best served cold, so when I make at night, I always wait until morning to have it for breakfast. It can be served as breakfast, brunch, lunch or supper easily--quiche is so adaptable! 

Ingredients::
one pie crust (I make my own, but store-bought works like a charm)
three eggs
one cup of either milk, half and half, or heavy whipping cream. (I always use half and half. recently though, I used heavy whipping cream and it was the best)
pinch of salt
half a cup of finely chopped onion
a cup of a cheese of your choice
and mix-ins like::
bacon
asparagus
other veggies

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare crust by placing it in a nine inch pie pan.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, beat the eggs with the cream or milk. Add in the salt and a dash of pepper.

Dump in all of your mix ins. Stir thoroughly.

Put the filling in the unbaked crust and place in oven for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick poked into the

center comes out clean. Enjoy!

and now a break from our regular news...

So I guess you guys are pretty tired of torture posts, aren't you?

Time for some real updates. Saturday I'll try to post a recipe I've just done. Quiche and smoothies are on their way.

And they're seriously delicious.

why must you torture me so?

That Toast. At it again.

christmastime is here....

So what's on your Christmas wishlist this year?

I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours.

•  photoshop elements
• gap sweater
  
• old navy pajamas 
  
• small red dangly earrings
• toms shoes

Isn't Christmas just the best?

I think so.