I am officially 28 now and I have to say that so far it has been pretty awesome.  My birthday actually was today, but I've been celebrating for several days and it's not over yet....

Saturday evening was spent at our friends, Mike & Dawn's house.  The weather was beautiful all day and the temperature got up around 67.  It was perfect weather for a bonfire.  Their friend Jason had a birthday on Friday so it was a double celebration with s'mores, Wii, and Robot Chicken.  It was a little windy out and some if the marshmallow ended up in my hair.  Our firend Joe played guitar out by the fire.  His playing is amazing.  That was probably one of the highlights of the evening for me.

Sunday night we had a party at Sushi Thai.  Stacey, a fellow bellydancer had a birthday on Saturday, so again we doubled up on the celebrations.  27 PEOPLE showed up! 27!  I have never had that many people at a birthday party.  It was pretty awesome that I had that many friends show up.  The sushi was very yummie and the fried ice cream dessert they brought out was was pretty awesome as well.  Afterward we headed over to Stacey and Steve's house for home made cookies.  He had made a bonfire for us on his patio so we were able to enjoy the unseasonal warm weather.

Today had some ups and downs at work, but ended on a high note.  John came and took me to lunch at West End Cafe.  We had a little bit of time to chat once I got home from work before we both had to head off to our respective classes.   I went to bellydance class and got to see all my "Belly Bitches"  as my friend Kristie has dubed us.  Afterward, I met John at our favorite wine bar downtown.  We both had a glass of Shelton Riesling and then got an nice little intimate table in the back.  We had a nice long talk while we waited on our dinner.  The main topic of our conversation revolved around contentment.  I think that has been the main thing I have found in the last year.  While things have had their ups and downs, I'm very happy with my job, we have a great house, our relationship is wonderful, I have an amazing group of friends, and there's not a thing more that I could ask for.  It's a wonderful thing to have at the age of 28.   Dinner was followed up with a Star Anise flavored creme brulee with a candle.  I don't recall having anything with a Star Anise flavor before, but it was very yummy.

When we got home I found a bouquet of flowers attached to our door with a card.  It seems John's dad dropped them off while we were out.  All in all it had been a great day.  Did I mention it was 68 degrees today?  I don't remember ever having a birthday that warm.  I'm used to getting snow and ice.

There is a lot more that I could say about turning 28, but I'm pretty tired.  (Oh no!  I am getting old!) Perhaps I can write more about it later this week.

Thanks for everyone's birthday wishes and especially to those who have celebrated with me the last few days.  Here's looking at another great year!

from ngakmafaery 

The first three (maybe up to five depending on the response) people to respond to this post will get something made by me!
My choice.
For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
- What I create will be just for you.
- It'll be done this year. No guarantees when, it will be a total surprise!
- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be poetry. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you have to repost this, and repost right away.
We can all make stuff and make someone's day a little bit brighter!
Don't respond if you aren't going to offer the same thing.

(If I mail it, I will ask for your address upon completion.)

Your result for The Elemental Balance Test...

Valley

~ 59% Water ~ 44% Wind ~ 67% Earth ~ 52% Fire ~

Take The Elemental Balance Test at HelloQuizzy

Day 12

Spinach Artichoke Dip

 

1 8oz. cream cheese, softened

16 oz. jar Alfredo sauce (I usually get it with garlic)

1 c. grated parmesan cheese

12 oz. jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained & diced

8-12 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed & drained

 

Mix all ingredients together, reserving ¼ c. parmesan cheese. Spread into 13”x9” casserole dish. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Serve with corn chips or pita bread.    

Day 11
Mac & Cheese

Okay, So I’ve been MIA on the recipes for several days (6-10 if you were counting), but I intend to go back and make them up.  Today was the first day someone finally emailed me and asked if I was going to start back or not, so I figured I should.  We have a our annual Holiday Open House coming up on Sunday so I’m trying to get things ready for that.  I usually do a lot of these thing for that and over the next couple days that’s probably what you will get, but for tonight I thought I’d give you one of my favorite potluck side dish recipes that came from my cousin Jane. I ended up making two dishes of this for Thanksgiving this year.

One box Macaroni- boil for 7 min.
1 c. shredded mild cheddar cheese
½ c shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 large can evaporated milk
1 egg
1 stick butter, melted
Salt & pepper to taste

Drain macaroni.  Mix together other ingredients.  Pour over macaroni and mix together until coated. Pour into large buttered greased casserole dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. 
 

Final Day-  We had a an LL Bean box outside our door today and my hubby asked if it was safe to open.  While we occasionally get catalogs from them I don't think I've ever ordered anything from them.  Turns out the box contained a nice canvas bag filled with treats and our our last name embroidered on it.  I discovered on the shipping info that it had been sent by one of John's step sisters as an early Christmas gift.  It was a nice little treat.  A coworker and I also managed to escape the office a half hour early since the bosses disappeared, so that was nice too. 

While still not getting back into the swing of thing with my recipes, I can ateleast get these in.

The Hubby has by sickness so that's a big downer.  I am happy I got to go to dance class tonight and over half the class (6 people to be exact) are people that I have recruited either directly or indrectly.  I'm getting some brownie points with my dance teacher. ;)  I'm also happy that I have so many friends that are interested in one of my favorite hobbies.  It will be great to get to hang out with them a bit more. 

Oh, and I finally got the pictures back from the photo shoot we did back in April.  This is my favorite-

So I'm really behind on everything thanks to this horrific cold.  Honestly I don't remember having a cold this bad in years.  It's made my teeth itch. The pressure in my head made me nauseated at times.  It's played games with my mind.  I wouldn't wish this on anyone. And now my poor hubby has it.  Even worse, he has a black belt test on Saturday!  Please, please, please let him be better by then.

Even with being sick, there were silver linings-
Friday- My hubby took care of me since I was sick and went out and got me a chocolate banana milkshake.  This isn't something I get often, but I thought it would be a nice pick me up and it did help my sore throat.
 
Saturday-  I accurately predicted snow by smell, even with a cold.  It wasn't in the forecast, but as I was walking in my friend’s house after helping her pick out some new finishes for her kitchen, I caught a smell I remembered from childhood.  I commented to her then, "It smells like snow."  I looked up at the sky and the clouds were indeed the right shade of grey.  I told John about it when I got home and checked the weather, but no mention of snow.  As we drove to his martial arts holiday dinner gathering he laughed and said, "Well, that’s pretty good that you can still smell snow even with a cold," and pointed up at the flakes melting on the windshield.  A mountain girl's snow instinct never fails. 

Sunday- I wrote about that dream yesterday.  While bitter sweet, I still think it was a happy moment.  It brought up a lot of other happy memories about my parents.

Monday- I think I made a new friend today with the girlfriend of one of my husband's martial arts friends.  We've meet a few times before, but we chatted at length online this evening.  I feel like I'm making some lead way with several of my female friendships lately and I'm really happy about that.  It's always been difficult for me to make and keep close female friends so there have only been a couple I have kept in touch with throughout my life.  I've really increased the number of female friends I have through belly dance and I'm glad that I'm now starting to deepen those friendships a bit more.  I think it's important that women have other women they can depend on. 

I laid down a couple hours ago because I'm still fighting this cold and so is my hubby, so both thought a little recharge was in order.  While it wasn't the most restful sleep due to head stuffiness and a slight throbbing in my temples, I did drift off dreaming a couple a times.  I don't really recall what the other were about but toward the end I dreamt that I was looking at a friend's pictures on Facebook, (an obvious sign that I've been on there too much lately) and he had a section labeled "Our Neighborhood Softball Tournament- Biggest Turnout Ever"  (It should actually have been wiffleball to make since to me, but that's one of the weird dream details you sort out once you wake up).  The game was being played in my old backyard, or I should say mine and the three adjoining neighbors.  We used to play wiffleball here when I was a kid.  It was always a big challenge because of the slope of the hill.  You had to run uphill to first and second base, but making it back down to home was a breeze. 

Anyway, back to the pictures, there were what looked like to be hundreds of people there, all the neighbors I remembered. Then there was one picture of my family- My Dad, My Mom, My Brother and Myself, all sitting in the grass, smiles on our faces watching the game.  Just a random candid picture.  It's a really good picture of all of us.  The problem is, it was current.  Even in my dream I realized this is a problem, but I don't think for the right reasons. I didn't remember it being taken.  I look at the caption and it says Summer 2008 and I think in my dream that I put it together that we must have gone back to Richlands to visit this past Summer.  I still continued to think about it and to rationalize it and of course I start to wake up.  I was afraid to open my eyes.  Afraid I'll lose that image.  I tried to figure out a way to save it to my computer, some way to make it real.  But it started to fade.  Even sitting here now I can only recall a few details of it.  I remember thinking that my mom looked really good.  She had lost a lot of weight and was wearing her hair differently.  My dad was back to his normal healthy weight as opposed to how frail he had gotten toward the end.  He still had a goatee and his hair had grown back and was dark black.

I do occasionally have dreams about my parents, but it's pretty rare and it's never about anything life shattering.  Usually it's just day to day stuff.  They usually look like they did before they got sick.  I may have had a few dreams where they may have known about current affairs, but I don't think I've ever had a dream where they look like they’ve aged.  It's always a disappointment when I wake up. 

It's been five and half years since I lost my Mom and  four years in February since I lost my Dad. I honestly have to stop and count that up when asked because it's not something I really dwell on.  I do miss them, but I wouldn't really say I grieve for them.  I was a peace with both their deaths in a very sort time.  That's a hard thing for some people to understand and it even made some of my relatives mad at me because of it.  I wish I could share my insight on death with them, but It something each person has to come to terms with for themselves. 

The holidays are one of the more difficult times for me just because they are filled with so many memories of my family.  Sharing those memories do make me happy though. I made the decision earlier today that I am going to use my mom's Christmas china at our Holiday Open House next Sunday.  In the past I've always bought paper plates.  We never do a big Christmas dinner here at the house so the china never get used and I think that's a bit of a shame.  So this year a new part of my mom's memory will be added to our tradition.

I didn't mean to get off on a tangent about my deceased parents here, I just mainly wanted to get that dream written down before I forgot.  Sorry if drug you some strange path with me.  Part of the dangers of trying to write when I just wake up.  Thanks for hanging in there anyway. 

Day 5

Rice Krispie Treats

 

Okay, so I’m still sick and I’m taking the easy way out. Seriously though, people have asked for the recipe and I think the way my grandma made them is a little different from the way that is on the cereal box now. Maybe it’s more butter, I can’t remember now…

 

¼ c. Butter

4 c. Miniature Marshmallows

5 c. Rice Krispie Cereal

 

Melt butter in a large bowl in the microwave. Add marshmallows and microwave for about 30 seconds. Stir to see if the marshmallows are melted. If not return to microwave in 15 second intervals. Gradually add Rice Krispies. Grease a 13x9 inch pan with butter and press mixture into it. I usually use wax paper on top to press it down and keep it from sticking. Let it cool and cut into squares or use cookie cutters for shapes. For the holidays I occasionally sprinkle them with red and green colored sugar.

I came down with a cold today, so that did not make me happy, but having the following modern marvels and more ancient remedies at hand to battle it do make me happy- Noodle soup, Tylenol Severe Cold, Herbs including- Garlic, Echinacea, & Astragulus. Neti Pots, Warm kitties to snuggle with, Hubbies to rub my back, Klneex with Aloe,  and a warm bed which I am now headed back to.

Day 4
“Chicky” Veggie Stew

I came down with a cold this morning and I’m in need of comfort food.  This is by far John and my favorite winter stew recipe.  It’s a variation I made on his mom’s while we were dating and it was again adapted last year when we decided to go vegetarian.  We still call it “Chicky” Stew even without the chicken because that’s one his nicknames for me.  So for you carnivores, feel free to add the chicken, but it’s good without as well.

1 Chopped White Onion
3 Stalks of Celery Chopped
1 Small Bag Baby Carrots
1 Can Yellow Corn w/ juice
1 Can Lima Beans drained
1 Can Diced Tomatoes
1 Small Can Tomato Paste
1 Can Veggie Broth (or 1 cup broth from the cooked chicken below)
1 T. Sugar
1 t.  Salt
¼ t. Black Pepper

Combine all ingredients in the crockpot. It takes about 6-8 hours on low or 3-4 on high depending on how crunchy you like your veggies.

I like to add alittle Texas Pete and crackers to bowl, but that up to you.

To add chicken,  boil one whole chicken or 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts until thoroughly cooked.  Break up into small pieces and add vegetable mixture.  Use broth as well if you wish.
 

And since I got tagged by the lovely capriciousbee  I have a meme:

"The rules are that for 8 days you have to post something that made you happy that day. Tag 8 people to do the same."
I hereby tag: desecration  mecculum  ngakmafaery  oceangirl4life princessbunny  quilljunky shaolin_geek this_is_not_art 

Day 3

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

 

I’m in the mood for smoothing sweet and today’s weather would have been perfect for this one. This is one of my favorites that I always remember my mom making. However, I learned early on that its success highly depends on the weather. Fudge is not a good recipe for humid days. It never sets up quite right.   While this one is a little trickier, I’ve found that even if fudge doesn’t set up right, it still tastes good, it’s just messier to eat. ;)

 

3 c. Sugar

3 T. Cocoa

1 c. cream

4-5 T. Light Karo Syrup

Pinch of Salt

 

Cook above ingredients on high in a large pot on high until boiling. Reduce to medium heat and keep at a rolling boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

 

Add

½  Stick of Butter

3 T. Peanut Butter

 

Stir until thickened. Use butter to grease the inside of an 8”x8” pan or dish. Poor fudge in and let cool. Cut into bite size pieces.  

Day 2
Russian Tea Mix

I usually make up a big batch of this and put it into small containers to give out as gifts throughout the season.  So I guess by giving you the recipe now it can be a gift that keeps on giving.  Plus it’s pretty yummy on these chilly evenings we’ve been having.

24 oz. Nestea dry instant ice tea mix with lemon
21 oz. container Tang drink mix
1 ½ c. sugar
3 t. cinnamon
1 ¼ t. ground cloves
½ t. nutmeg

Mix together all ingredients.  Be careful,  mixture is very dry and tends to get airborne easily, so mix slowly.   Divide into air tight containers.  Use 2-3 teaspoons per cup of hot water.  Can also be served chilled with cinnamon and orange garnish.

I am going to attempt this and we’ll see how many days I actually make it.  I was thinking as one of my gifts to my friends this year, I will try to share some of my favorite holiday recipes with you starting today and adding one each day until Christmas.  So with any luck you’ll have 25 recipes that you can use for your holiday entertaining.  I promise there will be a little bit of everything, very easy to a bit more skilled and something for everyone’s taste buds.  Let me know if you try something out and what you thought of it.  Hope you enjoy!  

 

Day 1

Date Cheese Ball

 

8 oz.    Cream Cheese Softened

½ C.    Cheddar Cheese

½ C.    Chopped Dried Dated

1 t.       Yellow Mustard

1 oz.    Crushed Pecans

 

Mixed softened cream cheese and mustard together thoroughly.  Add cheddar cheese and dates and mix until thoroughly distributed.  Roll mixture into a ball and chill if needed to maintain shape.  Chop up pecans if needed on wax paper and roll cheese ball in them until covered.  Chill until ready to serve with crackers.

In non-migraine related news, it snowed today!  I woke up and everything was covered in about a half inch.  I didn't even know we were expecting snow.  It's very early here for snow, but I can't say I wasn't expecting it some time this week or next.  Last week while we were having dinner with the guys from John's Kung Fu class there was this terrible thunderstorm- pouring rain, lighting, booming thunder.  I made the comment then that we'd be seeing snow within 13 days.  All the guys sort of laughed at me because it was in the upper 50's at the time.  I wish I would have taken bets on it now though.  It's an old wives's tell about thunder in winter (not clear on if it's technical winter as in after Dec. 21 or if it just needs to be below freezing a few days) but you'll  almost always get snow within 13 days in this part of the country.  I only remember a few number of time that it hasn't happened.  As far as I was concerned I was in the clear seeing snow in Chapel Hill on Tuesday, but it never snowed in Winston-Salem Tuesday.  Well now I'm good and I'm going to make sure I bring it up at dinner tonight.

Work is still really slow.  I worked on marketing materials a lot this week.  We went to interview for a job in Spartanburg, SC yesterday and I think it will be a good opportunity for us if we can get it going quick enough.  We need to get some other things in the works as well though.  I hope the first of the year will bring some new construction with it.

Migrine Med Update
I went ahead and upped the dose of Topomax to 25mg in the morning, 25mg at night starting on Wed.  I have noticed any increase in side effects, but I did realize I faied to list a couple that I had been noticing.  I have an occasional tingling on the bottoms of my feet.  It lasts for about five minutes and feels similar to them begin asleep.  This was listed as one of the more common side effects, so I'm not too worried.  I've also been having horrible acid reflux in the evening.  This has happened the last three evenings, but not tonight so far.  I'm really hoping this one goes away soon.

As far as the changes in taste goes, I haven't really found any other major things that taste different to me.  I drank a Coke yesterday and it seemed to be okay.  I seem to like coffee more now as well. I had never been much of a coffee fan, but I've found myself drinking at work almost every morning.  That could be due to the fact that I bought some of the Fresh Market holiday blends, but usually I can only take that in limited quantities.

I do know I'm not taking a enough Topomax to rid me of migraines yet because I had another one yesterday as we were driving back from Spartanburg, SC.  That wasn't fun.  I took my Relpax at 4:00 and it had the headache completely gone by 5:00.  That's a little quicker than it has been working lately, so maybe there is an improvement there.  I started feeling like I might be getting another migraine at around 4:00 this afternoon, but so far it hasn't progressed passed a slight pressure.  Again, this is progress.

Well, time to go meet up with the guys for our usual Friday night dinner.  Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

A friend asked me to do this today and send it to them, so I thought I'd go ahead and post it here with a few added comments while I was at it.

-Getting caught in a flurry of snowflakes driving back from Chapel Hill (this is pretty rare for NC this time of year)
-Capturing some pretty decent pictures of my boss's building in Chapel Hill to be used in a marketing brochure for a client interview on Thursday (double yay that we have a client interview this week)
-Getting to catch up with my belly dance friends and work out with them after not getting to for a month and a half (my teacher is a paralegal and has been on a trial in Vermont since the end of September)
-Watching The Office curled up in the bed with my hubby and having several good laugh out loud moments
-Emailing with a couple friends I hadn't heard from in a while
-Watching my crazy cat play in a paper bag (this never fails to amuse me)
-Having a friend who is interested in hearing about the good points of my day

Partially just as a note to myself, but also a good thing so far, I started taking a new migraine med on Friday.  Previously I was taking Relpax which is taken at the onset of a headache. It worked wonders at getting rid of them, but about the last four month I've been getting rebound headaches 24 hours later.  My neurologist decided to try me on a preventative drug instead, so I'm now on Topomax.  I start by taking 25mg a day and increase the dose weekly until I'm at 200mg.  So far, so good.  It does have some side effects, most commonly noted, weight loss due to loss of appetite.  I haven't really noticed this yet, but I am having one of the other strange side effects- change in taste.  Mt. Dew now tastes flat to me.  I need to experiment with other carbonated beverages to see if it holds true with them.  I also noted that my grilled cheese tasted like it was covered in black pepper yesterday.  Odd.  Anyway, I plan to continue to track my progress with this new drug just in case any of the rest of you have migraine issues and are looking for something and also just for my own sanity.

I was just thinking about doing something like this the other day.  I don't always have time to sit down and write out everything, but if I can just make a list now and then I can at least look back and remember what was going on.

Post 10 things that are going right in your life right now. I don’t care how small. You’re happy with your cup of coffee. You saw a flock of geese flying over. ANYTHING. Things that make you happy. Things that make you smile.

Cuddling with my hubby on our new mattress we got for our anniversary
Being head butted by Pyewackett, my cat, because he wants loves
Taking Ludow, my Schnauzer, on a walk around the neighborhood
Having an awesome father in law who is willing to take ballroom dance lessons with me
Hanging out with John and his Kung Fu friends for dinner on Friday nights
Having the opportunity to go to on a weekend trip with awesome couple of friends and their little girl next weekend
Finally getting my home office in close to working order
Old photographs of my family
Seeing the leaves turn colors
Our Halloween decorations and cool graveyard in the front yard

Now it's your turn.  What made you happy today?

Thanks to ngakmafaery  I just found thei freaky little website called "Make Me Babies"  where you can insert picture of yourself and your partner/ friends/ celebs and it makes a rather realistic looking image of what your shild would look like.  Not sure exactly how they arrive a the final product, but several people who actually have kids have said it's come pretty close.  Any way, here are John and my children-

 Kaya - John says he can see me more in this one than himself.  I think they used his eyes though

Conner  - It's a little strange that it picked up red hair.  John's was red when he was born, but it only shows up in his beard now.

Let me know if you try it out for yourself!