More Than Lumpy..i.e., I Told You Amy.......

In all the craziness of the holiday season I have forgotten to share a "funny" story about Thanksgiving. I will preface this story by saying I am a fairly decent cook...seriously. I really enjoy cooking and I'm pretty good @ most things I whip up. Some of you can vouch for me...By my "arch-nemesis" (as Jay calls this dish) is mashed potatoes. They kick my butt EVERYTIME...I think I made them really good ONCE...I don't know what it is. This is a fairly simple dish to most people. But I have screwed up mashed potatoes in every way possible. I've made mushy mashed potatoes, lumpy mashed potatoes, relatively flavorless mashed potatoes and the piece de resistance and the type that were made on Thanksgiving day: hard-as-brick-that-they almost-broke-my-Kitchen Aid-mixer-mashed-potatoes....Those of you who have prepared a Thanksgiving dinner know that things can get pretty hairy in that last hour of preparation. Everything seems to come together at once. Your attention gets diverted on pulling the turkey out, letting it rest for a bit, then the carving....throwing your casseroles into the oven, getting your rolls on the pan to immediately follow...worrying about how everything that needs to be hot will stay hot and all the cold stuff will stay cold....Hectic is an understatement when it comes to getting Thanksgiving dinner onto the table. Especially if you're working alone, as I was.....Excuses, excuses...I know....

So in the craziness that is the "final hour" I neglected to look @ the clock when I turned my potatoes on to cook. I had a brief moment in my dinner preparation when the turkey was resting, the casseroles were heating up, and I had nothing to do. I glanced over @ my pot of potatoes boiling away on the stove. I panicked...they had certainly been on the stove too long. I poked a fork into one (apparently the ONLY cooked one) and it was soft. I yanked the pot off the stove, drained the potatoes and tossed them into my mixer. Added a little milk, butter, and switched that bad boy on. At that moment, my parents arrived...The kids start jumping up and down, the dog is barking...I'm not even noticing that my mixer is literally lifting itself off the counter in an attempt to mash these bricks...I mean, potatoes.....It quiets down and I glance over @ the mixer which has caught my attention because it is about to fall off my counter....I notice the potatoes are a "bit" hard. Any normal person would take those potatoes out of the mixer and toss them back into the pot to continue cooking, right? What do I do? I add more milk...that's right...I add more milk...Certainly enough milk will create a consistency that one may be able to describe as mashed....right? OK...WRONG....My poor mixer was able to scrape some cooked parts away from the mostly RAW potatoes...I had a gluey mess...Time for confession. I threw everything else on the table, but a smile on my face, walked into my living room and told my family that we would not be having mashed potatoes with our Thanksgiving meal....chirp, chirp, chirp...My Dad asked what happened and I told him they were not Thanksgiving worthy (or ANY meal-worthy)...He told me he liked lumpy mashed potatoes (was that passive aggressive???). But I knew there was no way that I was putting those things on my table...And so that's the story of our mashed potato-less Thanksgiving...I think I may have started a new family tradition.....Happy holidays, ya'll.....



before.......and after...................

So, the decorations are up, the first round of baking is complete, a couple of service projects are under our belts, and a few Christmas parties have been attended.....and it's not even halfway through December!!! It's just crazy how busy we have been in these first few days of this month!!!! This week things have slowed down a bit, but the weekend promises to be event-filled. The kids have their Christmas piano recital Sunday afternoon and the girls are in our church's Christmas play on Sunday evening....Here are some pics of our holiday events thus far enjoy!!!

Carpe Diem

Life has been moving at a very rapid pace these days and in an effort to attempt to live in the moment, I have neglected my dear blog in favor of well...life. Sometimes all you can do is get through a day. Sometimes there's not enough time to reflect on what you did the day, week, or month before. But, I have noticed something happening lately, or rather, not happening...I've NOT been living in the moment, I've NOT been reflecting, I've just been, well...surviving. Life can get crazy with a husband, three kids, pets, responsibilities. I've been so wrapped up in accomplishing goals, getting from one day to the next, that I haven't really been appreciating what I have and THUS, the blog entry, for some much needed reflection time.

I remember almost exactly one year ago going to my doctor for my annual check-up and him telling me there was a lump on my thyroid. I remember coming home and knowing instinctively that it was not good. I didn't find out until the new year that I had thyroid cancer, but I remember making a decision following my check-up...I decided to not...for lack of better term, "sweat the small stuff." Life is too fleeting, important , meaningful, and yes, brief, to stress out over things I can't control. I remember writing in my journal that my life was on "the cusp" of something. I wasn't sure if it was greatness, or something dreadful. I found out shortly after writing that journal entry that it was actually both.

A cancer diagnosis affects the way you view life, but it also affects the way you live it. Silly, trivial things don't matter. They actually, quite suddenly, cease to exist. Arguing over where to spend the holidays and with whom doesn't even make the radar when you decide to grab onto life. Issues that used to cause hours of debate, grief, stress; suddenly become non-issues...Taking pictures, getting down on the floor and playing with my kids, baking Christmas cookies, laughing these are things that are important. And in this past year, of being diagnosed with, and getting rid of cancer I have lost site of that intense feeling I had when I was on the "cusp" of finding out about my cancer. It sucks to say it, but I have fallen back into my regular routine of staying busy, staying stressed.

Everyone @ some point in their lives needs to be confronted with the "real" possibility of death. It will change you. But what no one tells you is it's not a permanent change. That change, that spark, that fighting spirit doesn't burn intensely without some work, some thought, and some effort. God may give you a glimpse of what your life NEEDS to be, but it's up to you grab onto that feeling of importance and go with it. To wake up every morning and make a decision that this time here is going to mean something. So, in the spirit of purpose I have recommitted my self to not letting the tiny things get me down. The holidays are here and I am here to enjoy them. To enjoy my crazy, dysfunctional, dramatic, and loving family. To enjoy the quiet moments @ the end of long days. To take a breath in the midst of a whirlwind of activity and to smile at the complexity and intensity of life.....Life is good...........Happy holidays everyone.....