celebrity santa

Santa Nora, December 22, 2010

I don't consider that I'm a celebrity in any way shape or form. But I was for Birdy's annual Christmas party. 

I found out when I walked in the door and was handed a shot of Jameson Irish Whiskey and the suit. 

I suspect that I was chosen because this guy didn't show up....

2009

I wasn't prepared for the task. In retrospect, I should have done the shot - you need a little courage to get your photo taken with with a bunch of folks that have possibly had a cocktail or two.....

Can you believe that someone asked if Santa wanted to hang out by the dumpster and get high? I guess that explains why Santa eats so many cookies when he makes his rounds...

cousins

I'm related to all of these beautiful feet

I jokingly asked on facebook yesterday if watching CBS Morning Show counted as going to church. I knew that my closer-to-God moment was not far away - it was Spitznogle Christmas party day!

I just love my cousins to pieces, but back in my younger days I was a little scared of them. 

Keep in mind that I was a wussy kid. And that we have 39 first-cousins on the Spitznogle side and I was in the younger end of the group - our dad is the youngest of his nine siblings, so I have cousins closer to Dad's age than mine. A good chunk of those cousins lived in the same county, attended the same schools and church so they all knew each other and were close. And I as I said, I was a wuss.

Now I can sort out all of our generation and most of the next - facebook has been great for keeping in touch and sharing photographs. 

There was a table full of family photographs for the taking. I got some great ones - Grandma Nora and Grandpa Paul's wedding, photos of Dad as a child and of my siblings.

AVS, Uncle Cletus, Nora (late 1999-ish, I'm guessin')

Although I would have sworn that I'd never brought a date to a family party, there was plenty of photographic evidence that I had. And who let me have that hair cut? 

Seeing everyone was good for my soul, if not for my diet (lots of yummy food!) and a great way to start the new year. 

See you tomorrow -
N. 

cranberries

I love this time of year - cranberries are readily available. I have an unnatural affection for them. I've been to cranberry country several times and was intrigued by the idea of flooding the fields for harvest. That must save a lot of weather-related angst for cranberry farmers!

One of the best Valentine's Day cards I ever received was a giant heart covered with cranberries. How sweet is that? I can't imagine how long it took him to glue the cranberries.

Yesterday was another day off (three in a row this week!) I took the chance do some cooking.

My go-to dish for parties is Grandma Leona's cranberry salad. I imagine the great nutritional value of the cranberries is smothered in the sugar, tapioca, marshmallows and pecans. Over the years I've reduced the sugar and marshmallows and added more celery - it's still delicious.  I whipped up a batch for the Spitznogle Christmas party this afternoon.

I also made cranberry syrup!  My cousin LuAnn grew and milled buckwheat flour and I wanted to make something special with it. Buckwheat pancakes and seemed like a great way to start the new year - if not my weight loss program.

The only hitch was that I've never made pancakes. How is that possible? I researched recipes and shopped for the stuff that I didn't have on hand -  basically everything, since the ingredient list didn't include diet Pepsi, cat food or popcorn.

Before I started cooking,  I dutifully entered the ingredients into the Weight Watchers recipe builder and almost fainted when it calculated 15 points per serving (I'm allowed 29 per day), but that didn't stop me - the cat wasn't going to dine on baking soda and lemons, although he might be intrigued by the buttermilk.

They were delicious! And by making the pancakes small, I was able whittle it down to 5 points a serving, including the syrup.

I also learned some valuable pancake making lessons:  Multi-tasking is not possible. The smoke alarm is sensitive. Rubber spatulas melt. Skillet handles are hot. I have an exceptional talent for swearing.

When I first started the project, I had the notion that making pancakes would be a fun to do with someone else. Unless I find a guy that thinks batter all over the kitchen and scorched fingers are sexy, that's probably not a great idea.

In the meantime, I have ten pancakes in the freezer....

happy new year

Feet happily pointed to 2011

I’m not a New Year’s resolution sort of chick. Hell, who am I kidding – I’m not an any-time resolution girl.

I do have several goals for this year. 

In 2011 I’ll have one of those significant birthdays. The one that ends with a zero and starts with a five. It feels like this might be my last chance to shape up. And changing my shape is tops on my list. I’d like to lose 10 more pounds by my birthday.

I also need to get fiscally fit. Two years ago I had $10,000 in the bank and no credit card debt. Today I have $5.61 in savings, a car and a house. Credit card debt hovering between not-so-scary and holy-crap! Nothing that can’t be whipped in a year, with a lot of belt tightening and barring any disasters.

Write, write, write. I was in too much of a funk last year to finish a series that I started for our weekly paper and I hope I didn’t blow the relationship.

And I miss you all.

Seriously.

See you tomorrow.

N. 

where did the year go?

 My cowboy boot socks. Thanks Santa!

I've been feeling bad about this blog for quite some time.

I don't know if this is a first-born trait or an astrological thing or borderline laziness, but if I can't do something perfectly, I don't do it at all. My house is either really messy or pretty clean. My desk is either spotless or loaded with towering piles. My column is either written or not - no outlines or jotted down ideas.

If I can't write a great blog post with the perfect photograph, it never gets written - or finished. I have dozens of drafts floating around here.

I have really embraced facebook - I joke that if I could have invented a way for me to communicate, it would have been facebook. The short updates seem to be suited to my writing style and humor. The fact that I have over 2200 'friends' keeps me on my toes and the conversation rolling. Click here if you'd like to be facebook friends.

I was kicking myself a minute ago when I logged on to Chez Pez for the first time in months - only 47 posts this year - including this one. 2009 wasn't much better - only 63. In 2008, I wrote 171 times and in 2007, 204.

A couple of things happened - I'm much busier at work and I'm have more writing outlets. The last two years were pretty rough on me work-wise, which manifested itself in to a walloping case of 'poor-me'

But things have changed - I'm still busy at work and part-time jobs and volunteer activities. I'm still poor as a church mouse (I love the new car, but the car payment is stretching me thin!).

The good news? My attitude has shifted.

My life seems more sensible.

I'm ready to stretch again. Write again.

See you in 2011.

austin city limits 2010 - day three

Another wonderful day in Austin!

Click here to all about it!

austin city limits festival, day two - 2010

Read all about my Saturday adventures at the Austin City Limits by clicking here.