Well, I fall so short of "The Red Door" and "Splash"...Christmas stores in Shreveport that epitomize tasteful elegance in Christmas decorating. I threw all the ornaments that didn't go on the tree up on the mantel. And I feel certain that Catalina, my cleaning goddess, will immediately rearrange everything tomorrow. Hell, she may invite Curtis, the yard man, in to help her.
I walked down to Cousin Jean's tonight to see her decorations. Her mantel was more elegant than the Southern Living December edition of the natural Christmas. Yet I, me, the hostess of more is happier? Take a look
Jim kept saying this afternoon and yesterday, "Where is the color?" I told him the day that he helped me decorate and take the tree down was when he could pick colors (OMG - red and green...how fabulous!)
For the first year of my life, my tree is FAKE...yes 100% guaranteed not to drop needles all over the place and especially on January 2, 2010, when death row is inevitibe. Guaranteed not to be contributed to the burn pile out between the pines and the cypress trees. Guaranteed not to piss off the tree huggers. And most definitely guaranteed to smell (with the assistance of my $61.00 Frazier Fir diffuser - absolute thievery) very rustic...
Now, bring me some presents Santa. Don't make me shop at the Providence House donation bin - head first.
Ruffinism for the day: The Supreme Court has ruled that they cannot have a nativity scene in Washington, D.C. This wasn't for any religious reasons. They couldn't find three wise men and a virgin...Jay Leno
My boss, Mr. G, gives out 4-lb. boxes of pecans every year to friends and family as Christmas presents. I always get a box and never do THAT much baking. So naturally when I went to the deep freeze to retrieve some for my Thanksgiving pecan pie this year, I was astounded to find 3 4-lb. boxes. It's too late to re-gift right? Other than putting them out for the squirrels and birds, I can't think of what to do with 12 pounds of leftover pecans....
That would not be the case with my dressing, green beans, etc. from Thanksgiving dinner. Yes, we still have leftovers and Jim, my Hoover of a husband, will dine for the last time this evening on turkey, gravy, sweet potatoes, etc. ("give it to Jim, he'll eat anything"). He has a cast iron stomach and has been known to eat things no one else will attempt.
And guess who called me today to take our order for Christmas pecans? Yes, Gene Moody the pecan man. I ordered forty boxes again this year for Mr. G (including one for myself). You never know when one might decide to make pralines, or perhaps 100 pecan pies for Christmas. Now if I could just sell them for the outrageous price the grocery store charges for homemade pecan pie, I could probably get on Forbes list.
Clif and Megan just headed back to Baton Rouge. They've been with us the past few days along with Belle the Beagle. It has been a Super Thanksgiving and yesterday could not have turned out better. The weather was beautiful. Sunny skies with a cold chill in the morning, warming up to the 60s in the afternoon. We ate turkey & gravy, dressing, cranberries & apples, green bean casserole, asparagus, sweet potato casserole, rolls and wine. I did the Martha Stewart cheesecloth covering the breasts, soaked in white wine and butter. It was PERFECT! The color was beautiful and it was sooooo juicy. I got the cranberries and apple recipe from Aaron McCargo on Food Network and it turned out perfect. The only thing that did not turn out so well was my pecan pie recipe that I've done a million times. I just did not cook it long enough BUT who cares, one can eat pecan pie with a spoon as easy as one can with a fork.
And Bill and Karen dropped by and watched the Texas/Texas A&M game with us. I'm glad Texas won because I want them to play for the national title and beat either Florida or Alabama for the National Championship because they both beat LSU. Speaking of LSU, meet the Tiger Whisperer:
I'm putting the Christmas tree and decorations up tomorrow. Can't wait to put up the first artificial tree that looks real. I also bought a Frazier Fir diffuser and spray from Lewis Gifts. It will smell just like a real tree and there will be no watering, no needles to vacuum up after Christmas and no dead tree to burn. That should make the tree huggers happy. It's all about getting old and decrepit these days. The cold snap brought out the worst in my arthritis
Clif, Megan and I went shopping on Wednesday to beat the Black Friday crowd. Clif got his 55" Samsung HDTV and it is being delivered on Saturday. Megan chose a beautiful Coach bag and wallet. We probably could have gotten some of this (actually the Samsung was on sale before Black Friday) on sale, but perhaps it would not have been there had we gotten up after 6:00 A.M. Wednesday is a no doubt day.
Best Thanksgiving Quote ever: "I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land." - Jon Stewart
I just found out that Clif and Megan and "little girl" Belle the Beagle are coming up for Thanksgiving and I'm ecstatic. Now we're having a whole turkey instead of just a turkey breast. And we're going to shop til we drop on Friday.
I watched the Top Ten Thanksgiving Problems Solved on the Food Network the other day and got some really good recipes I was going to try on Jim but have had to change the menu up somewhat now. However, there is one recipe I found on that show that I'm keeping. It's Cinnamon Apple Cranberry Sauce by Aaron McCargo, Jr. and it looks fantastic. I just usually buy OceanSpray Cranberries in the can but this recipe looks scrumptious.
Our 27 year anniversary was last Friday night. Jim and I were in Baton Rouge for the LSU/Louisiana Tech game at our favorite urban camping spot. We went into downtown Denham Springs on Saturday morning and shopped the antique stores. There are tons of them. I found a quilt that we marked our anniversary with. It's gorgeous. I bought it at the Rusty Rooster.
Then Jim took off for the game and Norman and I watched movies the rest of the afternoon and evening. Nice quiet weekend.
Headed out tomorrow for a mega grocery shopping trip. This is the one that I spend a whole day on the baking aisle. Along with every other woman within 10 miles. We'll all just trip over each other.
Excellent weekend, margaritas, LSU lost, yard mowed, Catalina coming tomorrow, Clif and Megan home safe from Tuscaloosa, phooey on stick figure Nick Saban, God bless Cathy Woods and her family...
Ruffinism for the day: Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional. ~ Chili Davis
Clif and Megan went to a Halloween party last weekend and had some pictures taken.
Are they too cute or what? They obviously went as drover and indian princess but I could have helped Clif with his costume. He went as a cowboy a few years back and I think I still have this outfit in my Lane chest.
My, my....how time flies Mrs. Ruffin.
Jim went down to the LSU game in Baton Rouge and I stayed home to defrost the deep freeze. Well I didn't stay home to do that but it's one of the tasks I accomplished this weekend. It's empty enough for me to crawl in and come out ready to start the first fireplace fire of the season. Got any extra meat, NOT VENISON, I have some room available in the freezer.
Ruffinism for the day: Oh, baby I'm so tiredddddddd - Susan Ruffin
I have been thinking alot lately of out of body experiences and ghosts and such, AND not just because Halloween is coming on us. It started with Paranormal Activity beating Saw VI out at the box office last weekend. I don't know why that stuck with me. I don't go to see scary movies anymore. The last scary movie I saw in the theatre was The Exorcist in 1973 and I was 18 at the time. I just don't like horror that much. And every 18 to 24 year old man (it was X rated then) in that theatre was making exagerated sounds at the bodily functions going on in that movie and cracking jokes. However, I did have nightmares for the next few weeks.
I have had many out of body experiences and a paranormal experience that keep me wondering about some aspects of the afterlife all of the time. I have a guardian angel that has watched over me most of my life. It's not the guardian angel of money however. My guardian angel has saved my life numerous times.
I swear to god that I had an encounter with Henry Lee Lucas. No, I'm not crazy. Google him. My truck had broken down on Britmoore Road in Houston on my way back to work from lunch one day back in the mid-late seventies. I was in blue jeans and my office was about a mile down the road so I stuck my thumb out to hitchhike (not something done now or shouldn't have been then). A red mustang pulled over and offered me a ride. When I opened the door, I remember the driver's eye being all crumpled up and caught him pulling a revolver off the passenger seat. I couldn't slam the door fast enough and say, "No thanks." Goofy, Goofy girl. Guardian angel.
Actually, the out of body experience and my dream last week are really what I want to share. Back in 1983 (still in Houston and married), I was returning from a urologist appt. in the medical center and crying my eyes out because I was going to have to have my first operation...sort of. A cystoscopy where they go up and pull a kidney stone out with a basket. I was petrified and paralyzed. However, many years and kidney stones later I could probably reach my hand up there and pull one out if I needed to now. Ewww! I was driving on a one way street totally distracted and came upon a rather busy one way street. I stopped briefly and still crying hard, drove right into the path of another vehicle. The vehicle drove right through my body and my car. No shit. My lips to God's ears. It left me with a vibrating feeling and I looked twice at the car going on down the road. Twice! Now, I know what your thinking...but! maybe the other driver had a guardian angel too. That's not impossible people and this is my blog by the way.
Last but not least, the dream. Do you ever have recurring dreams? I have lots of them. One of them is that I'm in this old farmhouse, don't know where, but I'm younger. Part of the farmhouse is blocked off by a wall of windows and is in disrepair, like covered furniture stacked against each other, no cobwebs. Actually it's pretty bright until you get up the wooden attic stairs (yes this is a dream and in color) that go all the way to the ceiling of the attic. There is a door in the ceiling of the attic that you just push a piece of wood out of the way to get in the dark room above the attic (my dream folks) with one window. If I go over to the window as I always do with another person (don't know who), all of a sudden there is a frightening pushing back. It's a ghost, I don't know who, but it's so violent it pushes me back out of that room where I came from and it's angry and overwhelming. And it's a physical push and yet invisible. AND WHY DO I KEEP GOING IN THAT DAMN ROOM?! I know it's scary and I don't want to be there, maybe I'm trying to find out who is the ghost. I haven't had the dream in quite awhile but I had it this week, again.
