The day after

Oh, the yummy goodness that is Thanksgiving. I'm so grateful that our family enjoys each other, and gets along. On both sides, too, which I think is rare and wonderful.

So today we are all still around, with the exception of an on-call brother-in-law, so the kids are playing in various parts of the house while lazy adults sit on our hineys. Presently I am tucked into bed to keep warm (it's freezing here! What a nice change!), while Lucy is playing with Steve's grandmother's dollhouse. I love hearing the little stories that come out of her mouth while she plays.

I am wondering if I will ever be hungry again. The moment there seems to be an ounce of room, I seem to find some bit or piece of something yummy. Cold dark-meat turkey, a slice of summer sausage, a bit of the roll that I left half of last night, some apple cobbler. Apparently I am grazing and preparing to hibernate. This is when I wish for a detachable stomach. Kind of like a vacuum cleaner bag. Just pop a new one in and continue to inhale. =) I'm hoping for a nap-time for Lucy so I can get a little nap. I still haven't quite forgiven her for waking up at 6:00 this morning--or for the head butt that landed squarely on my nose.

Getting ready to go North

We head out tomorrow early, early. Looking at Google traffic, I'm glad we made this decision. It was RED all the way from our house up to the Grapevine, which means a 6 hr. drive would've taken more like 8 or 9. So tomorrow we should have smooth sailing if we leave early. We've done it once before, and it's nice to just fly. That said, we are trying to pack up the car and get the house in decent shape before we leave. Sadly I feel less than industrious, so I'm hoping I still pull it all together in time to get to bed early.

Baking in the oven is my favorite apple crisp. I'm a little bummed because I had quick oats and not regular old fashioned oats--the latter really makes a better crisp. But it's also hard to go wrong with brown sugar and butter. It's my sister-in-law's favorite dessert, so I am bringing it for Thanksgiving. I've never been a huge fan of pumpkin pie, so I'm glad there will be something yummy there for Jen and me.

I'm so looking forward to Thanksgiving. I am always sad when I hear of people who don't like turkey. It's just one of my favorite meals (if the turkey is made right--dry turkey is icky). I love the stuffing and turkey and rolls especially. The green beans are good. Everything else is ancillary. And leftovers are part of the wonderfulness of it all. I always read these magazines that tell you what to do with leftovers, like casseroles and stuff, but I'm like, dude, you just EAT them. Super yum 2nd time around.

Out of steam! Goodnight, all!

Much better

Wow, I was cranky last night. MUCH more ready to be thankful this week! Starting with the unbelievable smell coming form my oven. Chicken roasting with peas, onions and mushrooms. And on the side (give it a chance, now): brussels sprouts sauteed with bacon and onions.

I cheated and pulled out the Christmas tunes today, because it was overcast and is supposed to rain soon. To me that is the beginning of "winter."

Here's something I'm especially thankful for this year:

The week's air quality

This was what the air looked like last Sunday when we got back into town. You can't see all the ash all over the parking lot from this shot. It's kind of washed out.

This is what it looked like on Monday morning. The wind was blowing everything beyond us out into the ocean. The rest of the week was somewhere in between these two as the winds died down.

This week is full already. I'm finding myself committed to lots of small things that are causing me to head in lots of directions, so this week is a busy one, and not sure how it will all play out. I'm trying to get my house in order in the midst of it all, as we have people staying at our house while we are gone for Thanksgiving. They are gracious and wouldn't care if the house was messy, but I like to have it clean (or at least cleaner than it is presently). Plus, I prefer coming home to a clean house after being gone. Oh, to have the days back when I hired a Biola student to clean twice a month! Maybe someday. Just feeling behind on lots of things when I'd been working to get ahead.

Ugh, not a promising way to start out a week devoted to being thankful! I promise, it's there under the griping. It'll come out this week, I think.

But otherwise, Palm Desert has been...

... quite fun! Always delighted with how much fun it is. Here are a few quick pictures.

Hiking--that's right kid, work off that energy!


Painting a VW bug at the Children's Museum.
Playing in an Indian shelter at the Living Desert.

The sign behind her says, "Animal Temporarily Off Exhibit." Not so sure about that.

Last year, same location (totally miss that outfit!).

All kinds of crazy

Well, if you don't live in Southern California, you probably still haven't missed the news about the Southland crackling away in the Santa Anas. Unlike other fires in the past, we are somewhat connected to some of those affected. You likely heard about the extensive damage at Westmont College--the dorm my sister lived in was partially destroyed, along with several other structures. Most sad to me were the faculty homes. These poor families trying to make it on Christian College salaries finally get faculty housing built, only to lose it. It sounds like Biola is working to love and encourage Westmont, which makes me glad.

Friends in Yorba Linda (only 10 miles from us) have evacuated their home, and we don't yet know anything about the state of their house.

The fires are so close this time that the air will be thick for some time, and our yard will be covered in ash. I remember a few years ago when there was a bad fire, I saw an ant trail going through the ash in our yard... it was this strange white path through the gray. We are still in Palm Desert and head back tomorrow, so we will see in person how that will be. The freeways are a mess because of all the fire closures, so it will be interesting to see what round-about way we have to take to get home. Steve had to leave tonight (that's another small story), so we'll see how it goes for him. Anyway, that's our update. For out-of-town friends wondering if we are worried about our home, no, we are definitely pretty far away. But we do know people, and friends of friends who are in that area. I haven't heard yet, but I believe there are many Biola people in that area. We'll see.

So if you hate summer so much, why are you going to the Desert?

We are in Palm Desert the rest of this week. Why, in the name of all that is good, would we go to the desert when it just turned to Fall-ish weather here? Because it is just sooo beautiful! Steve's folks have a time-share out in Palm Desert, and have invited us to come each year for as long or as short as we like. The place we stay is just amazing and comfortable and beautiful. We've discovered that there is a surprising list of very cool things to do there, and every time we've gone it has been fantastic. The photo above is from a hike we did pre-Lucy out in Joshua Tree. I'm hoping we can take her on a short hike this time, as she really seems to love hiking.

Oh, and the a/c is fantastic, and doesn't show up on my Edison bill. That's why.

It's a good thing this isn't a craft blog

If it were, I'd be in trouble (with whom, I know not) for so rarely posting on what I'm making! But since I know the Ry-bear reads, I don't feel so bad keeping my fabric-y side a little more sparse. =)

These are some of the projects I've been working on since July. I've had so many gifts for Fall birthdays as well as prepping for Christmas that I've been pumping them out faster than I can take pictures. Missing from these photos are the cute little bbq-chef aprons I made for two little boys. They were gray with bright yellow bias-tape trim, and a little flame-print fabric for the front slanted pocket. I've been pairing the aprons (boy and girl) with a spatula, spoon, or rolling pin (made for kids, of course), and adding a Betty Crocker Warm Delights mix in. It's basically a pop-it-in-the-microwave dessert, and is a just-add-water deal, so minimal mess, but the kid feels like he or she is cooking. The girl version of the apron... this is for my niece, Abby.
In the background, the Warm Delights that will go in with the aprons. I actually got one of these free, thanks to moneysavingmom.com... she pointed out a deal where I could sign up for a freebie!
A little red smock that will be paired with paints and brushes for a birthday party. A duplicate is going to my niece, Ava.

A backpack for my solitary nephew. =) It's a one-strap, drawstring top backpack with a large square bottom. Inside is a lego kit and a lego magazine (which came free!).
Up next? Hard to say. Depends on what I get done after our little forray out to the desert this week.

Veteran's Day

3 years ago, nearly to the day, Steve and I were in Washington, DC for our "babymoon" before Lucy came. We made the trip up to Arlington on our last day, which I felt was a fitting end to our sojourn into the land of the law. I'd been there before, but it seems to move me even more as I get older.
It's not even simply that lives are given for our safety and freedom, but that they are given honorably, cheerfully, for me as I sit here, for my husband and daughter who are sleeping quietly in the other rooms. For that little girl especially.

I am so privileged to know a living veteran quite well, who has risked and served with honor and excellence and integrity. I'm so incredibly proud of her, and proud even to share her name.

She heads to Iraq in December, and oh, how I will miss her! She has become a dear friend, as she has quietly let me into her life during those seemingly small moments while I chopped onions and sauteed asparagus. Still waters do indeed run deep. So on Veteran's Day, I want to say thank you to my dear friend and sister-in-law, who goes out to serve once again. She is as the military should be--one who does her job with a heart's desire to be of service to her country. Thank you to her, and thank you to all who have served. Godspeed.

The Musician

Just thought it was fun that my kid picked up how to play Winnie the Pooh. =)

I'm Jennifer Earle, and

16 Meals

This weekend I got to try out Once-A-Month cooking with my dear friend Mandi and her good friend Jen (with whom I also went to college!). I'd been turned off to it for some time for two very good reasons, I thought. 1.) My mom tried it when I was a kid, and we all hated the recipes. It seemed like way too much work for what we got, and 2.) I love to cook, and didn't want to give up my favorite recipes. Well, Mandi ain't no fool, and she and Jen do 16 freezer meals (8 meals twice for each family) every 2-3 months, and just pull out a few meals each week. BRILLIANT, I thought, and signed on the dotted line. For $120, I got 16 meals that serve 4 people--two of those meals are salmon, by the way. I was really impressed at how organized they were, but also how easy the day really was to cook. Remember those awful group projects from college? Well, this is like my reward for that. Three women working together, eager to pull her own weight and get the job done well. I highly recommend this, though I do need to reserve judgement until we've eaten the meals. They all looked really good, though, and I think it's going to be a keeper for us. They use Recipezaar.com, by the way, if you are interested.

Here was our menu:
Farmer's Casserole (eggs, ham, potatoes--we used tater tots)
Sweet Salsa Chicken (for use in tacos or over rice)
Beef Noodle Bake (looks really yummy, a bit like a stroganoff)
Creamy Chicken Noodles (with broccoli)
Tortilla Casserole
Orange Chicken (apparently just like Panda Express's Orange Chicken)
Baked Ziti (always a fav of mine)
Honey Ginger Salmon

Not bad, eh? Some of them do have some night-of prep, but not more than a few minutes, really. Most you thaw, stick in the oven, and throw a vegetable on the side. BIG kudos to Mandi and Jen for all their work getting so good at this.


*Note: Not a meal made on Saturday