Ghosts of Christmas Past

And here are more scanned photos from Mom's old albums...

My maternal grandparents and my great-grandmother (Grandma's mom - in the green dress) Christmas 1971:
 

My parents with my oldest brother - Christmas 1959:

This is the whole darn brood of us at Christmas 1971...  The tot dressed like a marshmallow peep?  That's me.

And my own little peep messing with the tree at my folks house on Christmas Day 1999:

Aren't holidays fun?  So many years, so many memories.  Hold onto whatever memories you can, share them whenever possible, and dust them off fondly as the years go by. 

Happy Holidays everyone.  =oD

Pictures of Memories I Never Had

Several months ago, my brother started a project to scan in pictures from my mother's old photo albums.  Yesterday I received a thumb drive with the fruits of his labors - his Christmas present to me and my family.

Some of the pics were old memories captured for all time.  Some of the pictures I never remember even seeing.  Today I'm going to post a few of the old, old family photos that I saw for the first time this morning.

My paternal grandmother:

From left to right and center - paternal great grandfather, grandfather, uncle and father - taken around 1940:

Standing - Aunt Hazel.  Sitting on the railing: my paternal grandmother.

And finally, my dad when he was about 12-13... so 1948/49:

Wasn't he a cute kid? 

More scanned pictures to come in the future.  I'm just so over the moon to even have these.  I'd kiss my brother if he wasn't a thousand miles away.  (and if I didn't think he'd sock me one.  LOL)

Recipe Sunday: Guilt-Free Apple Cranberry Bread

I have a friend here in town.  (Don't laugh.  I really do have an in-person friend here or there.)  We don't see each other all that often, because she's insanely busy with kids and work.  But whenever we do get together we talk and laugh and share (or bitch and moan and vent), like friends do.

Anyway, she knows how much I love to try new recipes.  A few years back, she gave me this awesome recipe book called Any Bitch Can Cook (from the Any Bitch* family of cookbooks) wherein I found the recipe I use for Cake Mix Cookies.

This year, my wonderful friend - being dipped in awesomesauce the way she is - got me a 'guilt-free' recipe book (Taste of Home: Guilt Free Cooking).  OMG, everything in it looks so yummy.  I know I said I wasn't baking this year because of last year's Christmas poundage, but this is guilt-free, people, so I made the Apple-Cranberry Bread recipe (which I tweaked a little because I can't help myself.)

Here's my version - and at only 115 calories a slice (with very little fat) it really is guilt-free:

Apple Cranberry Bread
(makes two loaves - 16 slices each makes 115 calories per slice)

4 eggs
1.5 c. sugar
4 T vegetable oil
3 c. flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
4 medium granny smith apples (peeled & chopped)
2 c. fresh cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray two 8x4" loaf pans thoroughly with fat-free cooking spray.  In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar and oil until smooth and fluffy.  In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients.  Slowly stir dry ingredients into wet mixture.  (It will be very thick.)  Stir in apples and cranberries.  Spoon batter into loaf pans.  Bake for 60-65 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool for ten minutes before tranferring to wire rack or whatever you use for cooling baked goods.  Let cool overnight, slice and serve.

The original recipe was for one loaf and called for walnuts.  I doubled it and killed the nuts - because, frankly, after stirring in the fruit, my arms were so tired I didn't see how I'd get the nuts into the batter.  (And the deletion had the benefit of dropping the calorie count 25 calories per slice.)  I'm also recommending you let it cool because I sliced mine warm and the darn thing was so tart, it made my cheeks hurt.  Leaving it overnight gave the loaf time to calm down and the flavors time to meld into a much less aggressive tartness.

If you try it, let me know.  I sliced up a bunch and passed it out around town to rave reviews. 

Heh, no wonder my friend calls me Betty Crocker.

*Bitch, btw, means Babe In Total Control of Herself.  I can get behind being called that.  =o)

Non-Writerly News

I know I've told several people, but I don't think I've said anything about this here.  (Maybe I did.  I can't remember.  But if I did, it bears repeating. :grin:)

Daughter was accepted to Colorado State.  Not only that, but yesterday she got the letter that she was accepted to the College of Business.  And she got an invitation to apply to the Honors Program.

My writing may not be showing any measurable progress, but at least this homeschooling endeavor I started back in 2005 is bearing fruit.  We got her through her last five years of school (or will have in June) and she's going to college.  Here's hoping everything she's been taught so far will help her succeed once she gets there.

Way to go, Kid.  We're so proud of you.

Huzzah!

I knew the climax was out there somewhere.  I just didn't know how to get to it.  Then, like a flash of inspiration - or the lights from an oncoming train* - something lit my way.  I can see the way from here to there.  The path from there to the end is still kinda hazy, but I'll worry about that when the time comes. 

Wish me luck.

*Only time will tell whether this is blazing insight or a terrible catastrophe.  ;o)

Hokey Movie Writing

There was nothing on TV last night.  Nada.  So, as I was flipping through the channels, an older zombie movie caught my eye.  Okay.  I can get behind an black and white cheesy movie for a few minutes at least.  When it comes to old horror flicks, the hokier the better, right?

But this was too hokey for even old horror flicks.  Even Christopher Lee would be ashamed and he made some of the hokiest horror flicks ever.

So, anyway, I don't know what was happening before I hit the channel, but there was this house with people in it and they were under siege from what the movie was referring to as 'ghouls' (aka typical pasty-faced, flesh eating, shambling zombies).  People are dropping like flies until finally this one guy barricades himself in the basement and blows the heads off the two remaining zombies down there.  He's safe.  He's alive and unbitten.  Everything should be hunky-dory for what is obvious the hero of the piece.  All he has to do is wait for morning and help.

Right?

Day breaks and the cavalry (as in the local sheriff and his posse of gun toting locals) arrives.  They're blowing the heads of zombies right and left.  Then the sheriff decide to head for the house.  The hero awakens to the sounds of gunfire outside and decides to investigate.  He walks up into a zombie-free house with his shotgun at the ready.  Just outside, he sees the posse walking toward the house with their guns.  He's safe right?

Wrong.  At this point, the sheriff gives orders to his sidekick to shoot the guy in the house in the head - cuz, like, that's the only way to kill these things.  They shoot the hero and the movie ends with still photos of the hero being dragged off so his body can be burned.

Is it just me or wouldn't the hero - upon seeing humans who weren't pasty-faced, flesh eating, or shambling - have shouted something?   A little "Hey guys, don't shoot!" or "I'm not a zombie", maybe?  Something.  Anything?  Nope.  He stands there being dumb in more ways than one and the cops blow him away.  End Scene.

Talk about too stupid to live.  Geez.

Don't even get me started about the chick who stood by the door and let the zombies paw at her instead of fighting or even running.

Personally, I think even hokey movies should be better than that.  I demand a better class of hokey movie, dammit.  ;o)

What was the hokiest movie you ever saw?  Have any of you seen the movie like the one I'm talking about?  Because I totally missed the title and didn't recognize any of the actors, so even IMDB can't help.  Not that I need to know the title, other than to avoid it if I ever see it again.  LOL

I'm Still Here

I know it's been a few days since I posted, but I'm still here.  I'm blaming the craziness of the holiday season combined with the recovery period post-NaNo.

Anyway, here's what I've been up to...

-Crocheting.  I'm trying to get Daughter's blanket finished in time for it to still be cold enough to use.  Good news is, I'm almost done.

-Reading.  After slogging through November writing too much to have time for reading, I'm trying to catch up.

-Baking.  I know I said I wasn't going to bake this year because I don't need the extra poundage, but I can't help myself.  So, I made three batches of Cake Cookies and gave them all to my new neighbors.  They've got kids, so I'm not ruining her diet either.

-Shopping.  The big holiday is almost here and this is Daughter's last Christmas before she's off to college.

-Gifting.  I didn't bake for everyone this year like I usually do, but I did find some inexpensive toffee treats to hand out to the most special acquaintances.  Plus, I signed and mailed cards.  Fun fun fun.

-Celebrating.  Daughter got accepted to Colorado State.  Not only that, but she got invited to apply to the Honors Program.

-Kvetching.  Due to some irritating things happening in the ol' personal life, I've been feeling like a whiny bitch and no one wants to listen to my kvetching - least of all, myself.

-Cat Mothering.  Max had to go back to the vet again.  His poor mouth is still a mess and it always will be, but this time around, he had an abscess that needed meds.  So, I get to squirt antibiotics into his mouth every morning.  On the upside, he's eating like a champ again, now that the meds are working.  Yay. 


It's been a busy time around here, but that's no excuse for neglecting all of you.  I'll try to do better.  Tomorrow look for a post on making excuses or maybe one on letting fear get the better of you.  In the meantime, check out Colene Murphy's butt-whooping post on dealing with fear.