One Thousand Gifts

Do you know?
I believe I could find one thousand gifts...little reasons to be grateful for grace...right there in our bookclub.  Maybe in one evening, even! 
Well, that might be a bit much...I mean, I'd be writing things down like, "Grateful for secretly procurred toothpicks to spear pickles while Traci isn't looking" and "Ice cubes that melt slowly" and "The second sentence about mold in the thirteenth chapter of the book."

Our book this month WAS entitled One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp, and it was essentially about recognizing and giving thanks for God's gifts of grace in our lives.  What a timely selection, hm?!  And it was a good, thought-provoking book, although I had a hard time with the author's style of writing.  All I can say is that it's rich; like a really rich dessert that one can only eat a little bit of, then needs to take a break or it's overwhelmingly too much.  It's not a bad thing, it's just a book I had to pace myself in or I would start feeling ill, because I couldn't handle the intense descriptions of life. 

It highlighted how we all could be more aware of the little quotidian joys and blessings that surround us, daily.  Traci first read it during a hard month last winter and it helped her outlook immensely.  During the winter, here, we all really struggle with cabin fever, everyone and everything getting on our nerves, feelings of despair, bleak views out our windows.  It's easy to get down.  She said it helped her recognize the true blessings and get over the little irritations in her life at that time. 

We had a great discussion, chewing on different ideas we pulled out of the book, talking about individual blessings, big and small. 

Speaking of chewing....

We also had a really good meal.
(I know.  This shocks you.)
*insert sarcastic tone, here*

Traci made gumbo, which after she told us the ingredients, we realized it contained nearly every major meat possible: ham, shrimp, crab, sausage (I think it was a beef based sausage), chicken,  loads of veggies and great spices.
I ate too much, but it was wonderful!

We had sweet potato rolls, pasta salad, spinach salad, and these incredible pinwheel appetizers that Joni made!  (Joni C. of "I don't really cook all that often, so don't expect big things from me" reknown.) They had bacon and cheese and olives and bacon in them (I meant to do that); I ate too much, but it was wonderful!

Anne brought weird beverages that we loved!  Fauhncy root beer in vintage apothecary looking bottles, a berry fizzy malt beverage that was sort of like strawberry champagne only softer, and wine.  (She'd just been to Bozeman and was giddy with the access to all the frou-frou beverages!) I drank just enough, and it was wonderful!

We ALSO had homemade apple pie, this too from Joni Don't-Expect-Big-Things C.

topped with homemade ice cream that froze while we ate the rest of the meal.

(She didn't want me to take her picture holding the pie, so here is a picture that she can't squawk about.  Pretend the meat is a pie and you'll have the general idea of what she looked like holding it...)

Here's the actual pie:

Incidentally, I ate too much, and it was wonderful!

Here's a shot of my plate, before the decimation began...

Marisa's boys joined us for bookclub and they were, of course, adorable and well-behaved all evening. (Comes from the Mosby side of the family....)

(I have a cousin who just fell off his chair laughing, after reading that.  The best part is, he IS a Mosby, so he should be standing and applauding, saying "That's RIGHT!")

Everett loved Sweetie Boy, the cat, but I can say without hesitation that the feeling wasn't mutual.

Check out the truly irritated demeanor of the cat, as evidenced by the glare of his eyes and the slant of his ears...

(You see Finn, there in the background....)

I'll start the count on the 1000 Gifts of bookclub:

1. We are thankful for fun evenings with amazing friends (and wine)...

2. Dinosaurs and good books...

(How many bookclubs are thankful for dinosaurs, I wonder?)

3. HOMEMADE APPLE PIE AND ICE CREAM!

(On pretty china, no less!)

4. Happy babies that let us smooch them with ice cream-y lips and coffee breath...

Okay, he doesn't look so happy here....he's tired from all the smooching and it's almost time to go home.

Next month, we meet at Susie's house! We're all excited about that, because none of us has ever been to the beginning of the end of nowhere, except me when I was a little kid but that's been a few years.  I'll let you know the book when we know; Susie was gone for this bookclub and I teased her about choosing a Harlequin.  She may, just to drive me insane, so stay tuned!

Mental Diarrhea...

THAT got your attention, didn't it?!
(Oh, how I hope my mother doesn't read this...)

I've got all sorts of little, insignificant thoughts that can't stand alone as a post, but I feel the overwhelming (and probably ill-advised) need to share them with you. 

For instance...
Nearly every morning, when I run, I meet this grumpy old skunk who is trundling back to his burrow after a long night of carousing up and down the creek.  We've gotten sort of accustomed to one another; I holler so he knows I'm coming, he raises his tail in greeting, we keep going.  This is going to sound completely deranged, but I've gotten to where I look forward to seeing him and am disappointed when he's not there.

It's pie season!  Yes!  Remember last year, when I went through about a month of sincere pie-love?  It's back.  Cohagen School is having a harvest dinner/pie auction on November 18th, and I think I should start practicing now.  Sour cream raisin pie....I think there's probably only one person in ten that like a sour cream raisin pie and I'm that one, here.  With meringue.  *sigh*  Pie love...there'll be more on this, later. (Incidentally, if you're planning on coming to the harvest dinner and think you'd like to bid on a pie, I will take requests now, to ensure that your favorite kind is there.  And if I can't do it, I know of a couple other pie girls who CAN!)

My bum calves, Lily and Willy, are gone.  I know.  I'm a little sad.  Do you know what makes me cry, about this?  It's not that they're going to be hamburger soon...although that's not a pleasant thought, either.  It's the thought of how scared and bewildered they must've been at the sale barn, how frightening the sale ring was for them.  Every year, that nearly kills me.  But next spring will come, with new flower-baby bums, and we'll start all over again!

This is out of the blue, but do you watch the music/movie awards shows?  I usually don't, simply because they're deadly boring.  But when I DO, it brings out the worst in me; for about thirty minutes, I find myself cattily looking at the over-the-top fashion (good and bad), watching the faces of the nominees, rolling my eyes at the acceptance speeches.  Last night was the CMA awards and I got sucked in because Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood were hosting, picking on EVERY person in country music.  It was highly entertaining when they brought out the Tim McGraw and Faith Hill Barbie dolls. And this morning, I notice that everyone is all in a fluff that Taylor Swift got Entertainer of the Year.  Drama, drama, drama...(She had a lovely dress and wore it well.  Drats. I can't even disparage her fashion sense...)

Today is Sara Hagedorn Calvert's birthday!  Huzzah! Now THERE'S a girl who can understand pie love, sad bum goodbyes, and friendly skunks....  :)  Think Bon Appetit meets Agri-news.  She's a treasure of a friend and I'm so grateful she e-ntroduced herself last year.  Happy birthday, Sara!

Tonight is bookclub; we've been reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp and you'll get the report/menu tomorrow.  I know.  You'll be waiting breathlessly until then....

That's all for right now.
See? It wasn't as bad as you'd imagined after reading the title of the post, right?

But, it's just make up!

Because she won't tell you herself, unless you accidentally trip over some of her pink and black boxes, my sister is now officially selling Mary Kay.  Yes!

And Saturday evening she had what the invitation termed as an open house, but what she referred to as her "coming out of the closet" get-together. It was a big deal for her, as well it should be, and she'd cleaned and baked and fluffed and prepped all day for the shindig; as the day went, though, friends started calling and cancelling.  Su much so that when I talked with Jen at 1:30 p.m., she sounded sort of frantic and begged me to come so she wouldn't get skunked.  Please?

Well, what's a sister to do?! I had to go.  I know how it feels to have a party that no one can make it to.  And I didn't want her sitting there in her pretty dress, in her clean house, looking all sad and drowning her sorrows by eating the whole Double Chocolate Bailey's Irish Cream cake by herself.  I mean, if she's goona be sad and eat cake, I should be there to join in and support her in any way I can.

The weather was AWFUL.  The morning was just cold, but it started snowing that afternoon and just wasn't going to let up.  I thought it wouldn't be so bad, because I'd get in to Miles when it was relatively light and evaluate whether to risk the roads after the party.  I told Wayland that I'd turn around if the roads got too bad...no big deal.  And took off, thinking of all the times Jen had come through for me. 

As far as the road went, they were alright, except for the last 70 miles.  Those were white-knuckle, tense shoulder, 40 mph, blowing and melting and freezing sorts of miles.  I kept thinking I'd run out of it.  By the time I decided to turn around, I was closer to Miles than home, so may as well plow on in...

It took 1 1/2 hours to get there. 
Yeah.

I was 15 minutes late, missed the big shpiel, had to hurry up with the interview card, and was all twitchy from the trip and the football game I could hear on in the next room.  This is love: that I would miss the biggest college football game of the year to apply moisturizer and make-up with the girls.

It turned out that a couple of friends who thought they couldn't come, did, and Mom was there, too, so there were five of us.  Yay!  We Mary Kay-ed from 6:30-10.  I'll admit, I did sneak off and watch the equivilant of one quarter of the LSU-ALA game, while everyone was eating chocolate cake and drinking chai. 

I decided to spend the night, which really was no choice at all, considering what I'd driven through to get there, so Jen and I visited and laughed, went through all her products after everyone had left, planned and plotted.  We were counting on the time change to buy us an hour.  Then we blew right through that hour and kept going....I think it was 1:30 by the time we finally called it quits and went to bed. 

I came home the next morning with all sorts of little trial sized lotions and potions, some new colors for my face, and a happy heart from having sister time. 

And this morning, I'm moisturized and spackled up, ready for whatever the world might toss my way!

If you need Mary Kay, contact Jennifer Pitcher at 406  853-5901.  You can tell her I sentcha!