Candy Cane Lane

Since this was supposed to be our last warm day before the cold weather comes to stay for a while, I decided to get the lights put out front. The railings needed to be wrapped in red lights, the small boxwoods covered with green lights, and the candy cane pathway lights stretched from the steps to the driveway. It's easier to do that in bare hands as opposed to fumbling with all those cords and plugs while wearing gloves. I got the railings and boxwoods done and the wreath up, then went to ask Dad where he put the candy cane lights last year.

I found him in the garage decorating his small tabletop tree. While I was pleased that he had the Christmas spirit and was decorating his space, I informed him that his timing was off. He needed to save inside decorating for a cold day. His answer was that he didn't expect to be doing any outside decorating. I quickly disabused him of that notion. The candy canes are supposed to be his responsibility. I told him I'd put them out if he'd just tell me where they were. He denied any knowledge of their whereabouts.

We spent the next 20 minutes looking for them. They weren't in the shed or the basement. I finally moved my car out of the garage so that I could get to his shelves, where he was sure they weren't, and immediately located them in a plastic bin on the bottom shelf. Then he remembered that he was in fact the person who put them away last year. We had just enough time to line both sides of the walkway before lunch.

I'm not putting the icelight snowman or reindeer out until after the storms that are forecast come through tonight. The weather forecast is for possibly severe thunderstorms and high winds. No point in putting decorations out that are only going to get blown over. Poor Dillon is already anxious. He's a better weather forecaster than the meteorologists on tv.

Speaking of tv, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is on tonight. I never get tired of that show. Rudolph and How the Grinch Stole Christmas are my favorite Christmas specials. So naturally the networks scheduled them to be on at the same time tonight. Fortunately both will be rerun and I own the Grinch on DVD. I'm not normally a big fan of cartoons, but that one is so brilliantly done.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

My weekend began on Wednesday afternoon. It got off to a great start when I caught my foot in a cable blocking access to the Canal Trail from the power line right-of-way. The cable is strung about 24 to 36 inches high. Dillon goes under and I go over. This time I didn’t lift my back foot high enough. I went sprawling onto the concrete poured at the base of the fence.

Luckily, nothing was broken or ripped, but I twisted one knee, bruised both, and scraped one forearm. The twisted knee meant I couldn’t kneel or squat for the rest of the weekend. Which made getting the roaster out of the bottom kitchen cabinet, and assembling and decorating the Christmas tree, an interesting experience. I felt like a toddler trying to lower myself down and finally just plopping down onto my butt. Getting back up was equally awkward.

Despite that, I managed to get a lot of decorating done. At one point, there were pilgrims, jack-o-lanterns and Santas all in the same room. It was festive, but looked sort of like the discount bin at Big Lots. When I finished the tree in the den, Dad commented that it had so many ornaments on it that it looked like the trees at Cracker Barrel.

We use retail displays as our guide. When it comes to Christmas decorations, our guiding philosophy is that more is better. We try to stop just short of tacky. I love all those elegant minimalist displays in magazines and on HGTV. I just can’t seem to recreate them in my own home. We’ve spent years collecting this stuff and it seems wrong not to display it.

The living room is almost finished. I just haven’t decided whether I’m going to put up a tree in there and Dad needs to finish putting candles in the windows. He’s got 2 candles in the smaller window and none in the big window. This is the first year he’s put candles in the windows and I think he ran out of multi-plug outlets. He asked me the whereabouts of one we used last year. I pointed out that if it was used last year, it wasn’t going to be available this year. It’s not like we’re deleting anything. We just keep adding.

Frankly, I don’t think the candles are necessary, but I don’t want to discourage him. Although I am going to have to put my foot down and demand that all the bulbs match. One candle has a traditional white nightlight bulb and the other has a flickering orange flame-type bulb. I don’t care which he uses, but I would like them to match.

Although I readily acknowledge that we have enough Christmas decorations for every family on the block, many never get unpacked, I can’t seem to stop myself when a new one catches my eye. Yesterday I bought a zebra, a giraffe, a snow owl, and a skating Victorian boy. What I lack in sophistication, I make up for in variety.

It's definitely the season of miracles

When Dad brought the paper inside this morning, he complained that he needed a cart to carry it. I'd never seen so many sale circulars. He started separating them into 2 piles. One pile was for circulars he didn't think I'd be interested in. I informed him that I wanted to look at all of them. "Even Walmart?" he asked skeptically. "Just because I don't shop there doesn't mean I don't want to see the circular," I told him. "We all know that if a price is good enough or an item isn't available elsewhere, my principles are flexible." He laughed and started reading the circulars himself. An hour later, he was still looking at circulars and hadn't even gotten to the actual news in the paper.

Our Thanksgiving feast was wonderful. The collards were cooked just right and the sweet potato casserole was wonderful as always. It's Dad's favorite. I had bought a new bottle of celery seed so it would be nice and fresh. Unfortunately, I let it intimidate me and didn't shake quite as much as I should have into the dressing. Mom always shook until the surface of the crumbled bread was black and then said when it looked like enough, you should shake some more. I'll make up for it at Christmas. It was still good.

After having seconds of everything, Dad apparently had plenty of Thanksgiving spirit. He cleared the table while I sliced the rest of the turkey off the bone. He thought Dillon might like the serving spoon that still had dressing clinging to it, so he put the spoon on a plate that was already on the floor for Dillon to lick. The spoon rattled and that scared Dillon, who backed away. Dad reached down, picked up the spoon, called Dillon to him, and proceeded to hold the spoon like a lollipop so Dillon could lick it clean. He did the same with the spoon that had served the sweet potato casserole. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself.

Dad then proceeded to put the leftovers in the refrigerator while I washed the dishes. When he finished that, he looked at the dishes and volunteered to dry. I usually just stack everything in the drainer, but Dad dried about half of the them. He's never done any of that before. I'm still in shock. It's definitely the season of miracles.

It seems more like Labor Day

I'm thankful that Thanksgiving only comes once a year. Don't get me wrong, it's my favorite holiday. I love the food and the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, reading the sales circulars, and the excitement and anticipation that mark the beginning of the holiday season. What I don't love is the preparation. It was so much easier growing up when all I had to do was set the table, watch the parade, and then sit down to feast on the fruits of Mom's labor.

These days, I'm the one laboring. Our office was only open until noon today. Since then, I've been preparing food for tomorrow pretty much non-stop. The collards are done. The congealed salad is congealing. The pumpkin pie is cooling. The sweet potato souffle casserole is mixed and in the refrigerator waiting to be topped with the streusel mixture and baked. That just leaves the turkey and dressing. The cornbread and biscuits are already crumbled for the dressing, so that won't take too long.

I love Thanksgiving dinner. All that yummy food. I have a whole new appreciation for it now that I'm the one preparing the feast. I plan to savor every bite. After the parade of course. Right now, it's time for hockey. My timing worked out perfectly. I just washed the last dish 5 minutes ago. The puck drops in just a minute. Something else to be thankful for!

Hooray!

I have some exciting news to share. I passed the North Carolina Certified Paralegal Exam given by the NC Bar Association. I am now officially a North Carolina Certified Paralegal. Certification is voluntary. You can work as a paralegal in the State of North Carolina without being certified. However as the NC Bar Association Certified Paralegal website explains:

"Certification demonstrates your commitment to the paralegal profession and provides recognition that you have met high professional standards. Since certified paralegals are required to take continuing education courses, it helps you stay current in the legal field which, in turn, enhances the quality of legal services you provide to attorneys. For potential employers, it makes the hiring process easier – your credentials are already verified."

The test consists of 150 multiple choice questions covering Civil Litigation, Commercial Law, Criminal Law, Ethics, Family Law, Legal Research, Real Property, and Wills, Trusts & Estate Administration. You have 3 hours to complete the exam. I took it in September, but just got the results yesterday. Frankly, on the day of the exam I was convinced that I hadn't passed, so I was thrilled to receive the letter and my certificate in the mail.

I even got a lapel pin about the size of a nickel, but I think I'll pass on flaunting my new status in that way. It doesn't really match any of my earrings. I guess I could frame the certificate and hang it on the wall with my other hard-earned certificates, the ones given for passing Dog Obedience classes with Holly and Katie. I've never hung a diploma of my own on the wall before, but then again, I've never worked this hard for one before outside of dog obedience classes.

I can't deny that I'm both proud and relieved. I studied really hard for that exam. I started in July and worked my way through all of my class notes and exams and read several of my textbooks again cover to cover. I don't ever want to have to do that again. I much prefer reading a good novel. Maybe I'll throw in a legal thriller every once in a while as continuing education.

-Nancy
North Carolina Certified Paralegal

Don't overlook salvation

The church is apparently doing an outreach campaign and trying to convince members that they haven't seen in a while to attend services. My phone rang Sunday evening and a gentleman introduced himself and explained the purpose of his call, then he asked if I was still a member. I assured him that I was. "Do you attend services?" he asked. "Not as often as I should," (more like never) I replied. "But I am a member of the handbell group." "Well, it's good that you're part of the handbell group, but I wouldn't know you if I saw you," he said. "We'd like to have you in church too." I assured him that I'd try and do better.

Dad just switched his membership from Baltimore to the local church. The secretary insisted on introducing him to the minister while he was there. The minister shook Dad's hand and asked if they'd be seeing him on Sunday morning. Dad said, "Probably not," with absolutely no shame. I think he only switched his membership so the minister would feel obligated if he needed someone to preach at his funeral and because I'm playing handbells and we have a performance coming up at a church function in December.

Pretty soon they'll be including us on their prayer lists. They're probably convinced that we're part of the great unwashed. I generally introduce myself as a backslider. I feel like I'm making progress though, at least playing handbells has me back in the building.

Bow-tie Lasagna

I made this on Saturday. Dad gave it a skeptical look and put a small spoonful on his plate. He went back for seconds and then for thirds. It doesn't taste exactly like lasagna, but it's awfully close and very good. When you're looking for a hearty meal that's ready in 30 minutes, this recipe is a winner.

From the Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen blog.

Ingredients

* 1 pound Ground Chuck
* 5 cups Bow Tie Noodles
* 3 cups Spaghetti Sauce (or Pizza Sauce, Whatever You Prefer)
* 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
* 1 teaspoon Salt
* ½ teaspoons Garlic Powder
* 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning (or More, Make It To Your Taste)
* ½ cups Mozzarella Cheese
* ½ cups Sour Cream

Preparation Instructions

I am a “make it and taste it as I go” cook. I made this in a hurry tonight, and was amazed at the results; my girls could NOT get enough of it. (I love that kind of response, don’t get it as often as I wish.)

Fry ground chuck in small pan. Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions.

After noodles are cooked, drain and drizzle with olive oil. Mix in your spaghetti sauce. (I can’t guarantee your results on this, because I’m spoiled; I am a “home canner” and have the BEST sauce on my shelf, a home canned marinara sauce that I use for lots of stuff—pizza, spaghetti, and of course, THIS.)

Add your fried hamburger, seasonings, cheese, and sour cream. Fold together and allow it all to combine and melt together, over low heat, for about 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Serve to your family and be prepared to have it disappear before your very eyes.

Gathering Leaves

Spades take up leaves
No better than spoons,
And bags full of leaves
Are light as balloons.

I make a great noise
Of rustling all day
Like rabbit and deer
Running away.

But the mountains I raise
Elude my embrace,
Flowing over my arms
And into my face.

I may load and unload
Again and again
Till I fill the whole shed,
And what have I then?

Next to nothing for weight;
And since they grew duller
From contact with earth,
Next to nothing for color.

Next to nothing for use.
But a crop is a crop,
And who's to say where
The harvest shall stop?

by Robert Frost

Looks like I'll be gathering leaves soon. For right now, most are still attached to their trees creating a glorious view out the den window.

That's what a recipe does

Yesterday I tried a new recipe, Shrimp Scampi Bake. Dad loves shrimp and it sounded good. When I put the casserole dish on the table, he gave it a skeptical look. "It's baked Shrimp Scampi," I announced. "There's shrimp in there?" he asked. Gee, since the entire top of the casserole was covered with shrimp, I thought that was pretty obvious. "Yes," I said firmly.

He dipped up a spoonful. "There's an awful lot of rice in there," he complained. I explained that not every person eating a shrimp dish expected the entire thing to consist of nothing but shrimp. The point was to enjoy the shrimp, but also stretch the amount used to serve more people and provide the inclusion of more food groups. Dad thought that was a complete waste. Why would anyone want to eat anything other than just shrimp?

"Did the recipe tell you the proportion of rice to shrimp?" he asked. "Yes, that's the point of a recipe, to tell you what quantities of ingredients to use," I snapped. Honestly, what kind of a stupid question was that? "How many people is this supposed to serve?" was the next question. "Four." He looked incredulous. "Normal people, eating a serving of the entire casserole, not just scraping the shrimp off the top, could easily get four servings out of this dish," I assured him. I swear, it's like explaining to a child that yes, you do have to eat your vegetables.

After dinner he admitted that it was pretty good, but he wasn't finished obsessing about the amount of shrimp. "How much shrimp did the recipe call for?" "One pound." "Did you use that many?" "There's the bag right there. It says one pound and I used the whole thing." Talk about beating a dead horse.

I don't think he believed the package weight. Given that he'd eaten the majority of the shrimp, making sure that the only thing left in the casserole dish was a lot of rice and asparagus, I guess he didn't want to admit that he could possibly have eaten 3/4 of a pound of shrimp all by himself. It would contradict his constant claims that, "I can't eat a serving that big." Obviously he can if the serving in question is shrimp.

The rice and asparagus mixture was delicious. I assured him that he hadn't seen the last of it. I plan on serving it as a side dish with another meal. He made a face. Maybe I just serve peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or fish sticks. Don't all 2-year-olds like those?

Here's the recipe if you'd like to give it a try. It's from the November 1, 2010 issue of Family Circle magazine.


Shrimp Scampi Bake
Makes: 4 servings
Prep: 20 minutes
Bake: 20 minutes
Cook: 24 minutes

Shrimp Scampi Bake
Ingredients

* 1 cup uncooked white rice
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 package (9 ounces) frozen asparagus cuts, thawed
* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 4 cloves garlic, chopped
* 1/2 cup dry white wine
* 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
* 1 teaspoon cornstarch
* 1 pound fresh or frozen cleaned shrimp, thawed if frozen
* Pinch of black pepper
* 2 tablespoons seasoned dry bread crumbs

Heat oven to 375°. Coat four 16-ounce baking dishes (or one 2-quart dish) with nonstick cooking spray.

In medium saucepan, combine rice, 2 1/4 cups water and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook 20 minutes. Uncover and stir in asparagus pieces. Cover and set aside.

Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk wine, lemon juice and cornstarch together in a measuring cup or bowl. Add to saucepan and cook 2 minutes, until thickened and bubbly. Stir in shrimp, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and the pepper. Remove from heat.

Divide rice mixture among prepared dishes. Top with shrimp mixture. Sprinkle each dish with 1/2 tablespoon of the bread crumbs. Spritz bread crumbs with nonstick spray. Bake at 375° for 15 to 20 minutes or until shrimp are cooked through.
Nutrition Facts

* Servings Per Recipe 4 servings
* Calories406,
* Total Fat (g)8,
* Saturated Fat (g)4,
* Cholesterol (mg)187,
* Sodium (mg)528,
* Carbohydrate (g)48,
* Fiber (g)1,
* Protein (g)29,
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Veterans Day

I've never read All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. I've heard the title, but never read the book or seen the movie. For some reason, I had the impression that it was a farce-type story. But today there's a quote from the book on a blog I visit regularly, A Walker in the Suburbs.

"He fell in October, 1918, on a day that was so quiet and still on the whole front, that the army report confined itself to the single sentence: All quiet on the Western Front.

He had fallen forward and lay on the earth as though sleeping. Turning him over one saw that he could not have suffered long; his face had an expression of calm, as though almost glad the end had come."

I checked my library on-line, they're closed for Veterans Day, and they have the book. I think I'll be borrowing it soon.

I watched some episodes of WWII in HD on The History Channel last night. One featured some footage from the Battle of the Bulge. Dad fought in WWII and told a couple we met last summer that he was near the Battle of the Bulge. I knew nothing about it so was eager to learn what I could. Bleak and terrifying are the words that come to mind. When you see the pictures of war, you wonder how anyone survives with their soul intact.

Dad, who made it back.

Uncle Rudolph, who didn't.

Is it that time already?

Am I the only one having a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact that it's practically Thanksgiving? Christmas decorations have been up in the stores for a couple of weeks already and the tv commercials have started in earnest. I was wearing shorts a little over a week ago and most of the leaves are still green and attached to trees. It's been a confusing fall.

Dad and I have complained for several years that retailers ignore Thanksgiving. There are plenty of decorations for Halloween and Christmas, but it's hard to find Thanksgiving decorations. Last year we did buy some pilgrim figurines from Big Lots and I found a ceramic turkey at TJMaxx. They're all still packed away in the garage.

Now I understand why there aren't a lot of Thanksgiving decorations out there. It's too much work to take down Halloween and put up Thanksgiving when you're just going to turn around and immediately start decorating for Christmas. I did get the turkey place-mats on the table and they're very cute. I need to get the rest of the stuff out before it's time to put up the Christmas tree.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday after all. It's all about food and family and taking a moment to be grateful for what we have. It's also the beginning of a month-long marathon of decorating, baking, shopping, Christmas carols, and general festiveness. I love Thanksgiving even if it is arriving in the middle of summer this year.

There's no place like home

Dad got back about 5 p.m. yesterday, just in time to catch the second half of the Carolina football game. He said he was glad to be back home. "When you're visiting people, you never know when the next meal will be or if you'll like it." Mom would be laughing her head off to hear that he prefers my cooking. He did sleep better while he was traveling. Perhaps he needs to break down and buy a new mattress?

Speaking of sleeping, it got cold here last night. I even pulled up Dillon's leopard throw for extra warmth. I took my ancient electric blanket off the bed at the end of last winter. I no longer turned it on, the wiring and heating elements made it annoyingly lumpy, and the binding on the top edge had come almost all the way off. Since it was at least 25 years old, I feel like I got my money's worth out of it. I thought maybe my lightweight blanket and comforter would be enough. Last night convinced me that I need another blanket.

Belk has a Beautyrest microfleece blanket on sale that I wanted to check out. While there, I found these pj's.

How cute are they?! Periwinkle is a good color for me and as I told Dad, you don't find that many pj's with monkeys on them. Since they have pink hearts as well, I'm thinking they'd make a great Valentine's Day present. When Dad stopped laughing, he asked if I was serious. I assured him that I was. "Do they come in sizes?" he asked cautiously.

He'd just finished his annual I have no idea what to get you for Christmas speech. I suggested he give me his credit card and he could give me the blanket and the pj's. Belk is offering an additional discount on Friday, so I didn't buy anything today. But I still expect a surprise. "How could I possibly know what to buy someone who wants pajamas like that?" he asked. I suggested he work on it.

It was fun while it lasted

I've been on vacation. Actually, to be completely correct, Dad has been on vacation. It amounts to the same thing. When he's gone, I do what suits me, when it suits me. Sounds like a vacation to me!

He left on Tuesday to visit his brother then headed to visit an old family friend. He'll be back today. I hope he enjoyed himself because I certainly did. I only cooked if I felt like it and only made things that I like. I had pancakes 3 times.

Dad isn't a real fan of pancakes and when he does have to eat them, he wants the edges crispy. I'm not a short order cook, you take them like you get them. My solution to this stand-off, I don't make pancakes when he's around. Since he's ALWAYS around, I haven't had pancakes in years. They were very good.

The only time I wished he was here was in the mornings when I had to trudge out to pick up the newspaper. I don't read the N&O, I get my news online. I can sit in my pj's, hair unbrushed, sipping my coffee in the comfort of my study with no witnesses. It doesn't work that way with a print newspaper. You have to go outside to get it.

I threw on my long raincoat over my pj's and hurried to the curb to pick up the N&O, hoping no one would see me. The fact that it's still daylight saving time helped because it was still mostly dark when I was scurrying around outside in my pj's. To add insult to injury, it was damp and rainy on a couple of those mornings. I never get cold and damp reading my newspapers!

I think Dillon did miss Dad. It's not as if they're constant companions, Dillon usually naps on my bed when I'm away. But still, Dad was around to let him out if necessary. More importantly, Dillon has Dad's snack-time schedule down. He knows Dad will give him a bite or a lick of whatever he's eating. He really missed that morning bite of banana. If he was human, he'd probably be worrying about scurvy by now.