What Free Time??

I've been out of pocket a bit, and my camera has been spending way too much time in its case! Last week I left for a road trip with Jackie. We went up to Oklahoma to spend some time with her Mom, and we had a really fun time together. I didn't take a single picture the entire trip. What was I thinking? We toured all the model homes that her Mom has decorated with her interior design business. We also went to a craft fair, ate at a fun spot in Tulsa called The Wild Fork, attended a cocktail party at a design studio, and drank way too much Starbucks. It was grand.

One of the best parts was the drive up there and back home. It was great to have uninterrupted time to sit and visit, and I was able to get some stitching done for my "homemade holidays" agenda!

Of course, being gone on two trips close together was not completely without consequence! I came home to a hefty "to do" list, which included dealing with this leafy little stack...

We needed to trade that stack for THIS one...

You'll not believe this, but this is only a portion of our Christmas stuff. Buzzard faithfully drug every last bit of it down the stairs so we could get pictures of the entire collection. Oh dread. I apparently snapped these few photos and then forgot to take pictures of the whole enchilada before diving in and spreading it all over kingdom come. He will be so sad, because he even arranged the Christmas moose at the very tippy top of the Rubbermaid tower and it was very cute.

You can imagine. :-)

So, the past few days have been spent digging and unpacking and setting up and doing the decking the halls thing. With a dozen or more interruptions for fun...

Saturday night was gourmet club and the theme was Thanksgiving. Our host just returned from a mission trip to the Ukraine, and he had an awesome slide show prepared for us. The food was divine, ending with a multi tiered oreo/chocolate/Kahlua/white chocolate/fudge cheesecake that nearly sent me right over the edge. Also, the dressing was a cornbread dressing with giblets and chopped eggs and it basically redefined dressing for me. It was amazing. We talked during dinner about how that is the one "traditional" element of Thanksgiving that nearly every household prepares differently. There's so many variations on dressing, but I'm a firm believer in chopped eggs with giblets.

Giblets. Just a fun word to type.

Sunday morning I drove out to the airport super early to meet my friend Candy, who had a layover here for a few hours. I took a picnic breakfast in an attempt to make baggage claim feel quaint and homey. We smeared pumpkin creamcheese on bagels and traded stories. I miss her like crazy, and to get to see her out of the blue for just a few hours was divine.

Sunday night we celebrated my Mom's birthday. I was able to get the dining room mostly finished, so I set the table with Christmas dishes and we feasted on poppyseed chicken and spinach salad and lemon loaf, trying to ignore the rest of the Rubbermaid stacked all around the table that still needed to be unpacked. After dinner we watched Beezus and Ramona which is hands down one of my very favorite movies of all time. That was my third time to watch it and I still cried. It is precious.

Last night I was able to steal away to celebrate my friend Erin's birthday. We left Buzzard in charge of our kids and headed to Maggiano's to share chicken spinach manicotti. It is, without a doubt, the best plate of food in this entire city. Every time I take a bite it confirms my opinion that they have little Italian angels floating around in their kitchen rolling manicotti. The fact that they are able to manage little cups of creme brulee in their free time makes me love those angels all the more. :-)

This morning I'm off to Walmart, Thanksgiving list in hand, to gather ingredients and hunt down supplies for my latest craft venture. It's all a ploy to once again avoid this tower of Rubbermaid that is now starting to look like a permanent fixture in my living room. I simply have to find the self discipline by this afternoon to unpack the Dicken's village and locate temporary housing for a few nutcrackers.

And maybe actually take a picture or two for a change!