Saturday, December 26, 2009

Not a jazz fan

Bret and I wanted to go to dinner at tucano's tonight to celebrate his birthday. Let me just tell you - a weekend night during the holidays when a jazz game is going on equals no parking. I froze walking the mile plus from the parking lot to our restaurant.

pie overload

bret and i bought 10 holiday pies at our recent sub for santa ward auction. 10 holiday pies is a lot. considering my family requires a special lemon meringue pie at holiday gatherings, that meant at least 6 pies per family. since we hit my family first, bret's family got the most. luckily they had people willing to keep and help eat the leftover pies. this morning i heard from two friends who said yes to me bringing over pie. right now i have about 2 and a half left that bret and i need to consume or share. i'm having a painting party next week (mon through wed at least) and plan to feed pie to those who come - if there's any left. let me know if you're interested in either painting or eating pie - i'll give you details - i'll hook you up.

i'd just like to note that the lemon pie seemed to be the general favorite at both family gatherings. i'd also like to note that i've had pie for breakfast two days in a row now. at least i made it to the gym today!

just for the record, here is a list of all the pies:
2 pecans
2 banana creams
3 lemon meringues (bret and i made)
1 chocolate walnut
1 cranberry apple - what a cinnamon loaded soupy but delicious mess that turned out to be - complete with caramelized walnuts on top
1 raspberry cherry
1 grasshopper
1 maple custard that definitely needed more maple flavor!
1 blueberry cheesecake

Monday, December 14, 2009

My tree

Last night bret and I hosted a little christmas gathering for friends. That required decorating. In the past, dona was always the decorator in my home. Without her bret and I had to improvise. Neither of us were interested in bothering with a tree - but christmas parties aren't that festive without some token lighted and decorated thing - so we used the plant stand. I think it looks great - sorry the photo is sideways not sure I feel like figuring out how to exactly fix that. So... as for the party... it was a great success! We had about five musical numbers plus an audience sing along to begin and end the program. When it was "over," though, people still wanted to sing. Since jared is just that sort of musically prepared guy, we had a stack of sing along books to use. Brent was good enough to take care of the playing on the piano and I think the musical entertainment lasted another half hour while others felt free to chat and snack. I really meant to pull out the camera to document what might be the start of a holiday tradition - but I forgot. Last year my vision friends and I put it on as a little service/social activity. It was such a hit that while I was away on honeymoon they decided we should do it again. I knew bret really enjoyed it last year so I was rather confident he'd be up for hosting this year. Hooray for a social musical friend and treats loving spouse. And hooray for musical friends who enjoy gathering for good times and good causes. (we collected canned goods for the food bank.) i'd also like to add that my floors are clean and the furniture is back in place but i'm still enjoying the christmas decorations.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Festival of trees

I'm finally done with my volunteer shifts at the f of t. Can't say it's the most fun ever but it was still pretty cool. It's really touching to think of all the people donating time and resources in honor and for the support of primary children's hospital. It was just a bit depressing thinking so much about the pain and suffering of people - I know it's supposed to inspire courage and hope especially during the holiday season but that's where the word bittersweet comes in. Maybe when i'm older or just have more time for reflection i'll be able to feel it more deeply but after two days of being on my feet i'm mostly left thinking of the sad stories. Also maybe the sadness comes from hearing that y first principal who hired me 10+ years ago passed away today from cancer. I'm no fan of cancer in any form.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

the latest

okay, well, since i'm now back from the honeymoon and trying to organize my life, i decided i better update my blog - nothing more important of course! okay, maybe the piles of gifts that need thank you cards written - not to mention being put away! hey, at least the laundry is done!

so, bret and i had an absolutely fabulous time in midway at the zermatt - a swiss themed resort. the place was pretty dead except for lunch on thanksgiving and then on friday night going into saturday morning, but still those days were pretty mellow. we felt like we had the place to ourselves. great service - well, one bag of dove chocolates did go missing one day after housekeeping had visited. they play pleasant music on the grounds until at least 10 o'clock at night. it seemed to be always playing which was cool except when it felt a bit twilight zonish. we really enjoyed the town and hiking around and feeding ducks. bret loves to feed ducks. i just like watching. i'm glad we didn't go far - it made going and returning easy. we're back at home and he's back at work and now if i can only get my house back to order all will be well. anyone want to clean my bathroom? let me just say how glad i am i took the time to clean before leaving! that made it very nice to come home to. i'm just overwhelmed by all the gifts.

back to happy thoughts. our wedding day went PERFECTLY! really we both felt like nothing could have made it better. we got to see all our friends and family and we felt like our smiles were permanent. the weather was gorgeous, the noses not too red in the photos, timing of the lunch couldn't have been better, and all the thoughts shared and especially the band's performance were spot on. (when people asked if i was at all anxious about my wedding day all i had to say was that i was nervous about performing with my band - but i did really well!) like i said - i loved it. bret and i wrote in "our" journal reflecting on the day and we could only rave about how nicely everything went. we decided our favorite part of the sealing ceremony was when our sealer reminded us to hold hands and pray together (and with the children) to create an atmosphere of love in our home - so others would know we belong to each other - and so our children would learn about love. okay, so i'm not restating it perfectly, but i think you get the idea. let's see, i think i can find a picture of us on the wedding day - thanks to all my siblings who did good picture taking! did i mention how great all my siblings, etc. were? the wedding party would have never happened and come off so perfectly if it weren't for all the talented family members who pitched in like the wind. i think bret's mother said it was her most enjoyable wedding of all. i know it was mine! :)